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Moderator:
Andrew Rotherham, Co-Founder and Co-Director, Education Sector

According to many indicators, the United States is lagging well behind other nations in the quality of our education. Our public schools are not preparing our children to be competitive in a global economy, and America will suffer as a result. This was the dilemma laid out by Andrew Rotherham of the Education Sector think tank, who asked the panelists how the United States got into this situation and what to do about it.

Former Colorado governor and former superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District Roy Romer blamed our current dismal performance on a lack of political leadership. He believes that state governors should be empowered and then held accountable to develop and enforce meaningful state educational standards. Romer also shared his belief that our current educational shortfall is so bleak that it will affect our prosperity and quality of life for at least a generation. He also made this plea to parents: "Your most important economic asset is your eighth grader."

Eli Broad of The Broad Foundation placed the blame squarely on the American people for being complacent. After World War II, the United States was on top of the world and the G.I. Bill ensured that we would stay on top by providing higher education to our returning soldiers. We are now lagging because we got overconfident. Broad would like to see a national science curriculum to help address the problem. Unfortunately, each of the 15,000 local school boards in America has the ability to set their own curricula and achievement standards. Furthermore, teachers in high-demand subjects and tough schools are not properly compensated.

Lowell Milken of the Milken Family Foundation, Knowledge Universe Education and the Teacher Advancement Program expanded on Broad's comments. He argued that more than a century's worth of lessons regarding management and performance have been ignored by the teaching profession. Teachers have no incentives for better performance. There is no career progression; there is minimal continuing education. High turnover and burnout are but a few of the symptoms. Most teachers come from the bottom half of their graduating classes in college. Inner-city schools get hit the worst because their teachers are generally the least qualified, the least prepared and the most overwhelmed. Meanwhile, older teachers settle into the easier jobs — without any further prompting for improved performance.

Milken called for more parental involvement and improved teacher effectiveness. However hard it may be to change the characteristics of a child's family involvement, teacher quality is something that we can fix. Milken believes this is possible through applying proven recruitment, compensation and management principles that work in other fields. He argued that teacher effectiveness is the single overwhelming indicator of educational outcomes.

Michael Morris of American Electric Power Company expressed his concern about the quality of education because it affects the quality of his work force. Today's teachers lack subject matter expertise and passion, he felt, and there are fewer quality teachers from the hard sciences and technical fields. Coming from a CEO, his advice was well-received: "If you raise expectations, then people will meet them…Raise the bar as high as you can, and they will exceed it every time." Morris opened up a copy of the Financial Times and read from its pages about a charter school in Cleveland that holds classes from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM for eleven months a year with phenomenal results. "Kids love the rigor, and they step up to the challenge." Morris also suggested enhancing vocational programs in schools to ensure that students who do not excel academically could still receive decent work force preparation.

Gary Becker, a Nobel Laureate from the University of Chicago, at one point noted that our educational problem is due to poor economic incentives for teachers. At another moment he said that our K-12 teachers have let us down. He indicted the entire public school system, highlighting the importance of school choice. The room fell silent, however, when Becker reversed his earlier claims and suggested that our educational quality is just fine, but national averages are being brought down by the poor, urban minority students who lack the desire to do well in school. Becker bluntly maintained that those few students among this group who do possess the ability or innate desire to do well are ridiculed by the rest for "acting white." Most of the panelists steered clear of Becker's comments, but Broad responded: "We'd rather blame everyone else than look in the mirror."

Moderator:
Carl Schramm, President and CEO, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

Carl Schramm of the Ewing Marion Kauffmann Foundation launched into the panel by framing universities as the epicenter of success. Most "smart Americans" build on the foundation of a higher education but as the economy changes, universities will need to evolve, taking a more active role in teaching and promoting entrepreneurship. The panel discussed the efforts of three universities that have incorporated entrepreneurialism into their curriculum and culture to innovate, collaborate and think dynamically and globally.

Nancy Cantor, Chancellor and President, Syracuse University recalled that upstate New York was once viewed as the Silicon Valley of the East, with robust growth and an abundance of high-tech companies, but that prosperity has faded. To revive the region's glory days, Syracuse has been strategically investing in its core strengths, collaborating with other schools and reaching beyond its geographic boundaries. In order to succeed, Cantor recommends breaking down "silos" (organizational walls that often prevent different departments from coordinating research and innovation) as well as creating a pipeline of inclusive human capital.

Cantor elaborated on Syracuse's partnership with JPMorgan Chase. This $30 million university-industry collaboration will produce technology centers aimed at reviving urban neighborhoods and engaging the region's young people; it will pool intellectual capital to make an immediate difference in industry, higher education and the surrounding region.

We need to create a new paradigm for the university, or a "New American University," as Michael Crow of Arizona State University called it. He stated that education (including the bureaucracy of education) will need to change to embrace the new knowledge economy. ASU has introduced new programs and centers that foster innovation and creativity in disciplines such as music, nursing, journalism, engineering and more. ASU has made it a priority to promote the entrepreneurial spirit, defining itself as a "technopolis" that can meet both corporate and academic interests.

Edward Guiliano of the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) posited that we need to think even bigger than Crow's "New American University." He endorses idea of a "Global University" that is not bound by any geographic region. Just recently, universities in the United Arab Emirates and Canada have signed agreements allowing NYIT to set up and operate new campuses. Joint collaboration will enhance the exchange of knowledge and talent between nations.

The panelists agreed that this is a moment for universities to embrace change and actively pursue reforms that will nurture entrepreneurs. They predict that other colleges will employ distance learning programs and experiment with other collaborative environments catering to all levels of students, such as the successful University of Phoenix education model.

Moderator:
Lesa Mitchell, Vice President, Advancing Innovation, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

"People, people, people" make a knowledge economy hum — that was the consensus among this session's panelists.

Moving away from the traditional norms and practices that guaranteed success in an industrial economy, today's economy values expertise and intellectual property more than land or natural resources. Such an economy thrives on, and in fact requires, highly intelligent and educated people.

After brief introductions by each member of the panel, Ross DeVol of the Milken Institute placed the discussion in a larger context. Through a variety of slides that summarized years of research, DeVol hypothesized that a community's economic success is driven by its ability to retain human capital. While "it is critical to have large tech firms . . . [we] need people who know how to start new companies to have long-term success." A community that can lure and keep entrepreneurs will maintain a long-term competitive edge.

This sentiment was echoed by nearly every member of the panel. Lynde Coit of Plasco Energy Group emphasized the importance of the "special sauce" that led his company to place its headquarters in Ottawa, Canada. Plasco's technology, which converts waste into synthetic natural gas that can be used to generate electricity, was developed over a 20-year period in Ottawa. It was Ottawa's "long history of innovation and entrepreneurship" that made it an ideal locale for Plasco's plant.

Salvador Malo of the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness explained that, for the first time, Mexico has "a sense of competitiveness and innovation at the federal level of government, and local governments are trying to attract all forms of capital." He highlighted the state of Guanajuato, which has a population of less than 5 million but an ambitious "six economic corridors plan" to attract energy, biotechnology, nanotechnology, aerospace, information and automotive industries to the area.

David Fransen of the Institute for Quantum Computing further elaborated on the specific types of people necessary to create an entrepreneurial environment: "rich people and nerds." (DeVol jumped in to remind the audience that these groups were not mutually exclusive.) And not all rich people are created equal. Fransen believes that people who have made their money in today's economy — as opposed to "legacy rich" who have inherited money — are more likely to appreciate risk and investment in research. Such people tend to be less outcome-based and appreciate all aspects and benefits of the entrepreneurial environment.

Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco agreed that "the competitive differentiator is talent." As mayor, he adheres to a philosophy of "reinvent or die." He highlighted the various tactics San Francisco employs to create a thriving city where the most talented people will want to live and work: "anchoring the connection to Asia" by supporting Chinatown, Little Saigon and Japantown; mapping out a new area in Mission Bay for the University of San Francisco; and training community college students for specific jobs that major corporations say they will need to fill in five to ten years.

At one point Newsom and Fransen clashed briefly over the importance of diversity if the aim is to create an economic engine. Fransen posited that "rich nerds" do not require diversity; only superior minds and superior technology will lure them to a given place. Newsom countered that "openness to new ideas," be they cultural or technological, is imperative to attract top minds.

The moderator, Lesa Mitchell of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, kept the conversation lively, moving briskly speaker to speaker and offering insights of her own. She emphasized the importance of universities in attracting talented young minds to a given area, but she noted that the responsibility of retaining them eventually shifts back to the locality. Every city or town must work to keep its graduates living and working in the area if they want to capitalize on the intellectual property.

Moderator:
Doug Heye, Director of Surrogating and Business Outreach, Strong American Schools

Doug Heye of Strong American Schools offered the audience an inside look at what's really happening in schools throughout the United States. America's public education system was once the envy of other nations, but today the picture has deteriorated. "Our current education system is not preparing students for college, let alone for the work force," said Heye. More than 1.2 million students drop out of high school each year — that's more than 6,000 students every school day and about one every 26 seconds.

The average U.S. 15-year-old performs poorly in math and science. Out of 30 countries involved in the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment, the United States placed only 21st in science and 25th in math. American students are falling significantly behind their international peers, and by the time a parent or teacher is recognizes there is a problem, it is often too late.

Many students enrolling in college are ill prepared. More than one in three college freshman are required to take remedial courses to gain the skills they should have learned in high school. In the California State University system, more than half of incoming freshmen in 2006 had to take remedial courses in English or math.

These deficiencies are becoming apparent as young employees enter the workplace. Local trade unions are having difficulties finding qualified employees. The lack of skills is making itself felt in the form of declining economic growth. Many major firms are establishing international outposts to hire the talent they need in locations such as India and China.

To address this systemic failure, a coalition called Strong American Schools has launched a campaign called ED in '08. Its goal is to raise awareness of the deficiencies in our schools and issue a call for meaningful reform. The campaign is meant to bring education reform to the top of our domestic agenda, rallying private citizens, presidential candidates, political figures and business leaders to improve and transform our public schools. The organization believes that if U.S. students could match the skills of their international peers over the next ten years, America would be better prepared to compete globally and its GDP would grow by an additional 4.5 percent within 25 years.

"We need political leaders who rise above special interests and ideology by partnering with governors, mayors, local officials, business leaders and mostly communities throughout America to help with education reform," said Heye. ED in '08 believes we need to set high expectations and rigorous standards, deploy effective teachers in every classroom, devote more time and support for students to learn and find new ways to keep students engaged and active.

"The missing ingredient is not more commissions or reports. It is political," said Heye. "Without the national leadership to help enhance education, states and local school systems can't overcome the obstacles to improve our nation's pubic schools."

Moderator:
Susan Wolford, Managing Director and Group Head, Business and Education Services, BMO Capital Markets Corp.

Peter Maslen of Knowledge Universe Education began by noting that health care and education have traditionally been provided by governments. Today health care is almost equally split between public and private providers, while 95 percent of education is still provided by governments.

The link between education and economics in a globally connected world was explored by panel members in a wide-ranging discussion of Eastern and Western models. India, with 360 million school-age children, currently educates only 140 million students, but has ambitious goals to provide universal education in the next decade. Preliminary goals are still basic: increasing enrollment, improving the quality of instruction and improving basic services in schools, such as clean water and bathrooms. Anshul Arora of Edvance Learning suggested that the most exciting trend in Indian education is the increase in vocational schools, with 11,000 now in operation and many more planned to meet the growing demand. India, like the United States with its long-awaited K-12 reforms, struggles with implementing change in a democracy.

Singapore's education system is a widely admired model of education in a global economy. Its education system is a blend of public and private enterprise that has evolved in three stages: from being survival-driven during the 1960s and 1970s to being efficiency-driven in the 1980s and 1990s and finally, from 1997 to the present, becoming ability-based and aspiration-driven. Singapore now takes a learner-centered approach, which the panel agreed is the best practice for molding well-prepared workers in the global economy. "The goal now for Singapore's educators is to teach less and have students learn more," according to Jonathan Lim of the Singapore Economic Development Board.

In Singapore, education programs complement economic development. The tertiary model in Singapore is a particular source of pride. Lim explained that 16 of the world's top universities have campuses in Singapore, including Stanford, MIT and Duke. He cited examples of collaboration and global vision for education, including the decision by INSEAD, an elite French business school, to expand internationally in Singapore. The Singapore Department of Education had anticipated that the student population at these universities would draw from Singapore and the surrounding region, but instead they attract a truly international student body, an indication of the business potential in well-designed tertiary education models.

William Yiu of the Piaget Academy shared a model of excellence as old as recorded history: that of a well-educated parent who wanted the best for his own children. He recalled that being sent abroad as a child was lonely, and though he received a superb education in England, he wanted to keep his own five children in Indonesia, where his business interests were based. So he took it upon himself to develop a school that would meet the highest standards in the world. The success he achieved with the Piaget Academy has been replicated in five schools that are prized in their communities for combining the best of East and West. Like Piaget, the school's namesake and a great champion of early child development, Yiu has made a contribution of excellence to the world of education. He passionately advocates for a combination of traditional Asian pedagogy and a process that nurtures creativity.

The panel concluded with a consensus that the private sector is small and nimble, but the governments of the world still bear the ultimate responsibility for educating the masses. The much-watched YouTube video "Two Million Minutes" was referenced as an outdated snapshot. The video depicts some Asian students studying for 2 million minutes, doubling the totals of U.S. students. But millions in Asia still lack access even to good basic schools, and online education has not yet taken off in Asia. As Maslen concluded, "With education we are not yet scalable with a multinational model that's available over the world."

As we move to a knowledge-based society, the educators agreed that the search for excellence begins with what Singapore has discovered: a pedagogy that serves the global community yet fits the needs of the individual learner.

Moderator:
Steven Greenhouse, Labor and Workforce Reporter, The New York Times

"There is a shortage of talent," declared moderator Steve Greenhouse, who covers labor and workplace issues for The New York Times. This statement resonated with the panelists as they discussed trends in the work force and how you train leaders.

Greenhouse asked Anne Ruddy of WorldatWork to elaborate on how younger employees view their careers. "The future generation wants three things: job enrichment, flexibility and career development," said Ruddy, adding that globalization and omnipresent technology are major sources of opportunity.

Ruddy spoke about virtual businesses and how legacy business models could use a boost in technology to further develop networking capabilities and client enrichment. Younger workers are more adept at utilizing technologies such as MySpace to create virtual relationships. She said there is a new dynamic in finding the right people and exploiting the right talent. Most important, she explained that firms need to find the appropriate mix of motivators and managers to construct a more efficient work force.

Jeffrey Cohn of Spencer Stuart discussed how businesses can identify the right candidates for future leadership roles and how companies should conduct the interview process. He advised companies to question whether prospects have "executive intelligence." Can candidates solve real-life problems and see the big picture? Can an interviewee walk into a cold room, size up the audience, figure out their agenda and customize a message tailored at selling to these individuals? Companies should also evaluate a potential executive's ability to self-evaluate and adjust to environmental changes.

Because the United States has an aging population, Peter Searle of Spring Group felt that America needs to reinvest in grooming its own talent through motivation and growth. "Financial motivators are not the most important thing in attracting individuals to your company," he advised, adding that career opportunity, development and working with winning leaders have become the most important ways to attract talent. Searle says people care about personal prestige and they want to identify with the company they work for. Therefore, he said, it is important for companies to brand the right culture for success. "People like working with good people and companies need to convey that."

Philip Jennings of UNI Global Union said that the United States needs to reconsider its own strategy for developing a domestic workforce. "What's happened to the American dream?" he demanded. He said labor markets are changing, with two thirds of the work force found in Asia and 90 percent of new jobs being created in developing countries, rather than in mature environments. Jennings emphasized that it is critical for the United States to create more security for its work force and improve labor policies. He felt that the United States needs a fresh approach to rewards, because productivity gains are going only to top executives and not being shared with all employees.

Panelists agreed that globalization is the new trend and companies should tailor their interviewing practices, training and development to create diverse talent. Stephanie Bell-Rose of Goldman Sachs said that companies should still look domestically to improve talent. There is a 42 percent high school dropout rate in the United States; she suggested addressing that by having companies partner with schools to conduct talent searches and supplement academic offerings. Bell-Rose said there are clear opportunities to maximize inner-city talent growth, and companies should instill programs such as entrepreneurial training to build success in a younger generation.

Finally, companies can invest in proper training to create a more dynamic work force. Cohn suggested the creation of corporate universities, mentoring programs and new positions that will nurture talent. Ruddy solidified the discussion by stating, "The greatest organizations are ones that bring people into leadership roles with the opportunity to pull an organization up, rather than hit a fixed need."

Moderator:
Charles Edelstein, Managing Director, Head of Education and Business Services, Credit Suisse

Increasing global competition and failing public education programs have created significant opportunities for educational service providers throughout the world. The four panelists represented the largest players in their respective markets, and their conversation focused on analyzing the sources of demand, the market responses, the role of governments and the transferability of their business models.

Demand for educational services is skyrocketing for a variety of reasons. Greg Capelli of Apollo Group pointed out that outsourcing has led Fortune 500 companies to employ fewer but more highly educated employees in the United States, driving many candidates to pursue additional education through online learning just to remain competitive. At the K-12 level, Capelli said, the widespread poor performance of the U.S. public education system has led parents to pursue alternative methods for educating their children. Ronald Packard of K12 Inc. mentioned that educational productivity has dropped by 50 percent over the past 45 years, creating market opportunities for more agile new entrants.

Although there is significant demand for alternative educational services in the United States, the demand metrics in China and India are staggering. According to Louis Hsieh of the New Oriental Education & Technology Group, the Chinese government has limited the number of bachelor's degrees issued by Chinese universities, resulting in only 25 percent of the 10 million potential students finding spots in local colleges and universities each year. The government is allowing the number of degrees to rise by 15 percent per year, but since around 30 percent of Chinese college graduates still can′t find jobs six months after graduation, the government is hesitant to open up the floodgates. Chinese families have always listed education as their top priority and their primary reason for saving. Now that 600,000 Chinese citizens are moving from the farms to cities every day and middle-class income is exploding, the demand for education will continue to mushroom for years to come, he said.

In India the situation is very similar. Shantanu Prakash of Educomp Solutions Ltd. stated that the majority of India's significant GDP growth has gone directly to the 400 million members of India′s middle class. These families have always valued education highly, and now they have the money to pay for it. Unfortunately, India's public education system has not been able to keep up. Although there are currently 220 million children in India's 1.1 million schools, he said, the need for 200,000 more schools has left 100 million children on the street.

When asked how business was using technology to respond to this massive global demand, the panelists focused primarily on the major role that online learning will play in filling this gap in the market. Packard noted that U.S. citizens can currently get a K-12 education online and that many states are using these services to ensure equitable distribution of educational services in blighted areas of the nation. Hsieh described how his firm is currently using satellite services to bypass China's inadequate ADSL internet infrastructure and added that he has begun delivering his content by audio through Nokia wireless phones to students during their morning commutes. In India, there is still a massive shortage of relevant technology. The fact that only 1 percent of the 1.1 million public schools are technologically enabled will provide a significant infrastructure opportunity for the next decade.

The panelists agreed that governments have an important role to play in solving the global education crisis, but they also agreed that governments will not be able to succeed without help from the private sector. In 2003, China passed the Private Education Promotion Law, opening up grades 10 through 12 to private education service providers. The government also caps tuition at $1,500 per year per student and uses nationally administered computer testing to determine which students have the chance to go to high school and college. India's government also controls the educational market with a heavy hand by limiting content delivery to primarily Indian-financed nonprofit groups.

When it came to the transferability of business models, the panelists agreed that most online educational services could be scaled and delivered to multiple markets. English, Mandarin, math and science were the easiest to transfer, while more culturally sensitive subjects, such as world history, would require significant customization. Packard stated that if Internet penetration moves fast enough, online learning may transfer so quickly that it leapfrogs brick-and-mortar schools similar to the way cell phone technology leapfrogged land line infrastructure in developing nations.

All four panelists were bullish on the business opportunities provided by the worldwide education crisis. They expect demand to continue to grow in all markets and an increasing percentage of the world′s population to get a large part of learning content via online delivery methods. Whether one is building online content, technologically enabling schools or designing culturally customized content, they agreed, it is a good time to be in the educational market.

Moderator:
Saul Rockman, President, Rockman et al

The challenges of teaching in primary and secondary schools are complex, and it's rare when a pedagogical approach holds the promise of addressing as many needs as online teaching does. Given the focus on technology as an efficient problem solver, this panel of entrepreneurial educators discussed the vagaries of being first to develop, deliver and demonstrate the smart use of K12 e-learning programs.

Online teaching in American schools has reached only 50 percent saturation, according to Pamela Hoppe Ice, Director of Online Learning for the Colorado Department of Education. Of 50 states, only 26 have established virtual learning programs to date. Resistance from traditional educators and teachers′ unions, coupled with the constraints of legislation and limited resources, have slowed the progress of e-learning programs in the United States. While the vast majority of K-12 teachers embrace e-learning as a supplemental resource, national acceptance of comprehensive virtual school programs is still a goal, though a short-range goal.

The movement to develop online learning programs has been largely guided by entrepreneurial visionaries like Ronald Packard and Susan Patrick, panelists who discussed the role of online teaching from distinct perspectives. Packard, the founder of K12 Inc, offered a coolly analytical perspective on the entrepreneurial opportunities of delivering educational options where there previously were none. Since 40 percent of U.S. high schools don't offer advanced-placement courses — mainly because they can't hire the qualified teachers — virtual learning is a brilliant solution for meeting the needs of these underserved "best and brightest," he said.

At the other end of the learning spectrum are students with special needs and those requiring special accommodations. They are also well served by the virtual learning model, which allows them to take their time learning without the penalty of holding others back, and their learning outcomes and test results also rise. And there is a growing market for "credit recovery" courses to fulfill graduation requirements.

Patrick, of the North American Council for Online Learning, said she often finds less obstruction and quicker acceptance for virtual learning in the Middle East and Asia than in the United States, where in Wisconsin, for example, teachers sued to limit virtual learning.

Students aren′t the only winners with online learning, said Packard. With a teacher attrition rate of 30 percent within the first three years — attributable in part to the limits of the profession and lack of flexibility — Packard's company has found that online learning appeals to some of the top teachers who otherwise would leave the profession.

Each panelist recounted stories of the hurdles he or she has encountered the e-learning businesses and building awareness of virtual learning in school districts across the country.

There are three dimensions involved in online teaching. First, content must be developed aligned with state standards, which can be a costly investment for companies like Packard's K12 Inc. But the beauty of such specifically designed curriculum is the ability to adjust curriculums based on test results data.

Second, teaching skills are different and require specific training to deliver effective didactic experiences online. The upside of this is that data shows language arts scores in the top 2 percent and math scores in the top 30 percent in Pennsylvania and Colorado.

Third, the online model allows more flexibility for the individual student, which has clear benefits. Steve Brown of KC Distance Learning Inc. stressed that the greatest evidence for results in online teaching is found in test scores for K-3 students, a critical window in childhood education.

The data show that online learning is often more effective than traditional classroom learning and provides a major paradigm shift for the often static fields of primary and secondary education. Opposition to virtual learning, the panelists agreed, is just more confirmation of the success of a technology that holds great promise for the future of education.

Moderator:
Jane Foley, Senior Vice President, Milken Educator Awards, Milken Family Foundation; Senior Advisor, Team HOPE

Survey after survey shows that U.S. students are historically illiterate, and many think that history is just plain boring. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) History Report Card gave students exceptionally poor marks; in no other subject did a majority of students register so little knowledge of a subject they're taught in school. Where are the gaps? What are the perils of not knowing and understanding our history? What caused this dismal state of affairs, when conversely, adults demonstrate an insatiable appetite for books, movies, magazines and TV shows with historical themes? Panelists examined the problems and articulated the strategies needed to create a new system of history instruction that will engage students and adults with stories of the past, leaving them better prepared them to chart the future.

Moderator:
Felicia Thornton, CEO, Knowledge Universe Education U.S.

Recruitment, retention and employee productivity are crucial issues for businesses in an increasingly global world. As companies boost their investments in human capital, they're finding that top prospects often look beyond salary when considering a new position; offering quality child-care services can be a decisive factor in landing a talented candidate. This session highlighted how providing such services leads to employee recruitment, retention, and productivity.

Teresa Rasco of Stanford University's WorkLife Office explained that child care is important when Stanford is trying to recruit highly sought-after faculty, especially for tenure-track positions. The cost of living near the university is extremely high, she said, and child care has often become the deciding factor for faculty applicants. This sentiment was echoed by Lynn Franzoi of Fox Entertainment Group. She noted that the company′s onsite child-care center has been a great benefit for Fox employees — but a costly one for the company. The center has a small child-to-teacher ratio, and the teachers, 50 percent of whom are continuing their education, are paid on the higher end of the pay scale. As such, the center has been running a huge deficit, which she estimated was close to $1 million. Many would balk at this figure, but as Art Rolnick of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis noted, there are very few areas where an investment would yield a higher rate of return.

Rolnick discussed a research study that showed how focusing high-quality resources on at-risk children yields a rate of return of 16 percent. When compared to the control group, the exposed children were more likely to stay in school, the crime rate dropped 50 percent, and students performed better overall in school. Consequently, early childhood education must be viewed as an investment with far reaching, multidimensional benefits.

Jane Swift, the former governor of Massachusetts, spoke about the barriers of taking this concept to scale. First, she said, there is conflict between what parents realistically need and what experts view as high-quality early childhood education. This is especially evident in low-income families. Next, policy makers have to address the tension between allocating funds in a tight budget climate and knowing that allocated funds are well spent. Finally, she said, was the difficulty of replicating the quality of such programs at scale. As such, private funding is an important source of initial funding for these programs.

The Minnesota Early Learning Foundation, or MELF, is an example of using private funds to finance early childhood educational initiatives, said Rolnick. MELF reached out to numerous CEOs and raised approximately $30 million in private funds to target 1,200 poor families and provide them with early childhood programs. In an attempt to bridge the gap between parents and "experts," parents will be empowered to bring about change in their families and in their communities. Prenatal nurses will become mentors to families, and there will be scholarships for 3- to 4-year-olds, which are estimated to have an annual cost of $13, 000. Of note, MELF anticipates evaluating this program within two to three years. Rolnick urged the audience to raise tough questions when told that there is no money in the budget for such programs. Although he acknowledged that competition is stiff for scarce resources, public-private partnerships can provide an opportunity to move beyond this.

Recent statistics show that 93 percent of employees say worksite child care is an important factor when considering a job change, and businesses report an estimated $3 billion loss as a result of child-care issues. As such, investing in early childhood education is imperative for creating and maintaining a quality work force. For those who believe that we cannot afford to invest in our children, this session suggested that we cannot afford not to.