Local News

Preschool Promise plan could save big dollars, study finds

91.7 WVXU | By Tana Weingartner

Published February 26, 2014 at 11:01 AM EST

A University of Cincinnati study suggests Cincinnati could save $48 million if its Preschool Promise plan is successful.

The UC Economics Center report finds the economic benefit per three-year-old class could be as large as $69.1 million if all students enrolled in the plan. However, it says similar programs in other cities usually have about 70 percent participation - leading to the $48.4 million estimate.

The Preschool Promise aims to make sure all three-year old's get two years of quality preschool before kindergarten.

When local business, school and city officials announced the program last spring, they estimated it would cost $6 - 9 million dollars per year.

From the UC study:

Public Savings and Benefits from Quality Preschool	Average savings per student
Reductions in school system expenditures. Reduced need for special education and grade retention	$2,060
Reduction in teacher costs. Reduced costs of hiring and retaining teachers, substitute teachers, spending on school security, and state spending on improving achievement	$378
Increase in parental taxes. Freeing up time for parents to enter the labor market, resulting in increased sales and income tax revenues	$281
Reduced crime and criminal justice costs. Substantially reduced criminal activity, thus reducing costs on the criminal justice system	$7,735
Reduced health care and social service costs. Quality preschool programs have been shown to provide public gains associated with health screening, immunization, and nutrition, which may be delivered directly through the program or as a result of higher family incomes	$218
Increase in student taxes (income and sales) over a 47 year work life	$2,279
The total average annual benefits per enrollee	$12,942

The Economics Center will conduct a second phase which will evaluate the costs of providing universal, quality preschool. Completion of this phase of the study will yield a full cost/benefit analysis of the Cincinnati Preschool Promise.