It is worth noting when the nation’s top central banker talks about things besides interest rates and inflation, and earlier this month Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took time to urge state policymakers to continue investing in early childhood education. 

The busy Fed chief reminded his audience that while a strong K-12 system is an important factor in building a good workforce, quality early learning classrooms also play an important role.

Research increasingly has shown the importance for both individuals and the economy as a whole of both early childhood education as well as efforts to promote the lifelong acquisition of skills. The payoffs of early childhood programs can be especially high. For instance, investment in preschool programs for disadvantaged children has been shown to increase high school graduation rates. Because high school graduates have higher earnings, pay more taxes, and are less likely to need to use public health programs, such investments can pay off even from the narrow perspective of state budgets; of course, the returns to the overall economy and to the individuals themselves are much greater. – Speech to the Annual Meeting of the Southern Legislative Conference of the Council of State Governments. 8/2/10. (Early learning comments are near the end. See text for footnotes.)

As a journalist who dissected Federal Reserve speeches for key policy changes years ago, I can tell you Fed chairmen don’t waste too many words. And it is great to see Bernanke’s endorsement of quality early learning when he has so many other issues to comment on, including the sluggish recovery from the Great Recession.