Each month the economic argument for quality child care, preschool and pre-kindergarten seems to grow stronger and this week another writer linked investments in early learning with a stronger economic future.

In the Huffington Post piece, Pat Earley highlights many of the benefits of spending money on early learning, but she also explains that investments don’t always follow.

The United States currently faces serious education and budgetary problems. There is a growing body of work that shows that high-quality early childhood development and education is a powerful way to help address these problems and lay a foundation for human and economic growth.

…

Although most policy makers agree on the importance of early childhood education, budgetary constraints, as well as an inability to view these programs as fiscally sound investments in tomorrow's future workforce, continue to stand in the way of redirecting funds toward the early years. – “Teach Your Children Well,” Huffington Post, 7/21/10.

The story also argues that early education isn’t only about teachers, classrooms and curriculums. It needs programs that “integrate the family into the solution.”

In a related development, the College Board reports today that the U.S. has fallen to 12th in the proportion of adults ages 25 to 34 who hold postsecondary credentials.

"The growing education deficit is no less a threat to our nation's long-term well-being than the current fiscal crisis. It requires the same kind of attention and action at the highest levels of our education institutions and national and state governments," Gaston Caperton said in a statement. "To improve our college completion rates, we must think 'P–16' and improve education from preschool through higher education."

Some would say there is a connection.