Investment

Each year, Nebraska struggles to sustain costly programs and services to improve the performance of our students, the quality of our communities, and the economic well being of our state. But as needs increase faster than budgets, it is critical to pursue investments yielding the greatest returns in human potential and economic growth.

Studies show that investing in high quality early care and education opportunities for our youngest children – especially those from socio-economically disadvantaged families – is sound fiscal strategy. Dollar for dollar, early investments are far more cost effective than later interventions in helping children succeed in Nebraska’s K-12 system, reducing public expenditures on overburdened service systems, and cultivating a productive, more highly skilled workforce for our state.

According to Dr. James Heckman, Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and 2000 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, it is rare to find a "public policy initiative that promotes fairness and social justice and, at the same time, promotes productivity in the economy and in society at large. Investing in disadvantaged young children is such a policy."

Additional Resources

  • Heckman Equation Videos A series of videos that focus on the power of investing early: Urgency of Now, Skills Beget Skills, Why Investing Early Matters and Family Matters.

  • Heckman Brochure An introduction to Heckman's work and the power it has to solve some of our most pressing social and economics problems.