By Brian E. Clark
WisBusiness.com
A panel of economists and economic development advocates warned Friday morning that Wisconsin’s economy is in danger of falling further behind neighbors Minnesota and Illinois.
One key to closing that gap, they said, is investing in early childhood education – not only to make workers more productive now – but as an investment in the future.
Speaking at a Strongest Links conference, Terry Ludeman – who retired Tuesday as the state’s chief labor economist – said Wisconsin is facing a demographic timebomb because of its aging workforce, a brain drain of bright college graduates and in-migration of too few workers into the state.
And he said the state must take steps to train and keep young people in the the state.
And he said any economic development program should include an emphasis on preparing kids before they hit kindergarten.
“Preparation works,” he said. “When kids come to school prepared, we can produce the most qualified students in the United States.
“If not, they are sentenced to fail. And I’m embarrassed to say Wisconsin has a especially poor record for economic success among its minorities.”
Dennis Winters of Madison’s Northstar Economics said early childhood initiatives produce huge returns and could help Wisconsin become more competitive in the state’s transforming knowledge economy.
“Countless studies have shown education means economic development,” he said. “Business and policy makers need to understand that postponing this investment just postpones the rewards.”
Speaking in the afternoon, author Richard Florida said education models from preschool to high school need to be “blown up” to release kids’ creative abilities.
Florida – whose books include “Rise of the Creative Class” and “Flight of the Creative Class” – said Madison is an island of openness and prosperity in the Badger State.
It is also, he noted, the top city in the nation under 250,000 on his creativity scale.
“Madison is incredibly attractive for its physical beauty and its openness,” he said. “People come here and don’t want to leave.
“Rather than being 10 square miles surrounded by reality, it is (quoting Ludeman) ‘10 square miles surrounded by denial.’”
Florida said the United State has been doing a poor job of creating scientists and engineers, arguing that two-thirds of computer scientists and engineers working in this country were born abroad.
But he said businesses wanting skilled workers are wrong to focus only on colleges and universities.
“Schools are only as good as the kids who come into them,” he said. And he said it is shortsighted for society to not invest in early childhood education to prepare youngsters to succeed.
“To stay a competitive state and country and give people a good standard of living, you must be at the forefront of investing in creativity,” he said.
If Wisconsin can do that through early childhood intervention, its economic output could double or triple, he added.
“If businesses are stewards of their regions, they will come to understand that early childhood education will pay off as an investment.”
