Minnesota can be U.S. early learning model

To Barack Obama and John McCain:

I write to you as a citizen and Minnesotan. Minnesota can be a model for early learning programs for children, and we ask that you seriously consider discussing the possibilities for America's young people and their self-sufficiency in the remaining days of the 2008 presidential campaign.

A number of years ago, I became involved in organizing within the Minnesota business community early learning efforts that we believed had to be a higher public and private-sector priority. We carefully considered family, workforce and community issues and agreed that our goal would be the "life success" of every child.

Business leaders here long ago had agreed to the importance of K-12 education, higher education and continuing education as part of the lifelong learning journey all of us undertake.

We began to consider how early brain development, nutrition and the media all influence a child's development from the earliest days.

Very quickly, the cost-effective economics of successful early learning came into play, in part because of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank's research regarding the long-term payback or return on investment of successful programs.

One conclusion we reached, based on the state's own assessments, was that too many of Minnesota's 5-year-olds were not fully prepared for school. More than half failed to meet all six of the "learning domains" measured by the Department of Education. But we also learned that many of them do catch up by third grade. (Reading by third grade, it has long been known, is the linchpin to future learning.)

Earliest attention to the most-at-risk children, we reasoned, was the best way to address the so-called "achievement gap." The "achievement gap" is a matter of race and class. Across the nation, and particularly in Minnesota, there is a growing gap in academic achievement between minority and disadvantaged students and their white counterparts.

It was obvious to business that parent and family involvement was essential to a child's life success. With nearly all men and 80 percent of child-bearing-age women in Minnesota already in the workforce, we concluded that parents and families should have options in getting necessary high-quality learning services for their children. We believe that ending the generational cycles of ineffective parenting was crucially important to the future economic success of the most at-risk youngsters.

As executives involved in business, we understood that high-quality services must have clear goals and measurement, offer rigorous evidence of likely success and draw on best practices. Regarding the early learning of young Minnesotans, we concluded that:

• Resources should be allocated to those most at-risk first on the basis of the best evidence of child outcomes.

• Proven methods and practices ought to be relied upon to assure benefiting from others' experiences.

• The early learning private marketplace that serves most of the children -- where 90 percent of the dollars are spent -- should be offered financial incentives, based on previously agreed goals.

• Rigorous, regular performance evaluations of young students and providers are essential for long-term program success.

• Policies and programs should be flexible and adaptable -- including the shifting of available resources -- as new evidence and better ways to provide services become available.

Minnesota has acted on these ideas through a series of initiatives, including the establishment of the private, business-backed Minnesota Early Learning Foundation (MELF). The foundation is in the field with "Parent Aware" quality ratings of 250 providers throughout the state and a St. Paul project involving "scholarships" to more than 400 low-income families, allowing a child to attend the highest-quality programs available.

MELF and other groups, including an array of interested foundations, have recently commissioned a business plan to help set the framework on what needs to be done over the coming years.

We believe our Minnesota experience can support your efforts to achieve success for America's youngest citizens.