Preschool A Matter of National Security

On September 1, 2009, Mission Readiness - a bipartisan, nonprofit, national security organization of more than 80 retired generals and admirals - released a report at the Virginia State Capitol that concludes: "Our national security in the year 2030 is absolutely dependent upon what is going on in pre-kindergarten today."

The report begins with a startling statistic: "75 percent of Americans aged 17 to 24 are ineligible to serve our military." The top three reasons for this - inadequate education, criminality, and weight problems - "are serious and - if left unaddressed - will adversely affect the strength of our military."

The report goes on to highlight the 40 plus years of research that demonstrate that quality early education increases graduation rates and cuts crime, successfully addressing two of the three crucial problems that threaten our national security. For example, did you know that research studies have found that:
*Quality early education increases graduation rates by as much as 44 perecent;
*By the age of 18, inner-city children left out of preschool programs were 70 percent more likely than children with preschool to be arrested for a violent crime;
*Individual children who grow up to drop out of school, abuse drugs, and become career criminals cost society, on average, over 2.5 million dollars each;
*Because the various costs to society incurred by some of the at-risk kids can be so high, research shows that the benefits of investing in high-quality early childhood education for at-risk kids far outweighs the costs. One cost benefit study found that the net savings from investing in early education was $244,811 per child.

READ THE FULL REPORT and find out about the next steps for Virginia.