Saturday, May 24, 2003
Early childhood development continues to move toward the center of the education/workforce debate. Georgia started the march in the mid-1990's. The Commission on the Future of the South took up the cause in its 1998 report, Southern Connections. (You can download the Commission report, which I authored, from this page.)
Last fall, the business-led Committee for Economic Development issued a report on the topic, Preschool for All.
Then earlier this year, the Minneapolis Federal Reserve issued a study promoting investments in early childhood education. Now, Governor of the Bank of Canada is pushing for changes in outlook.
His argument in a nutshell: of all the investments we are making in workforce development, money invested in early childhood education provides the "biggest bang for the buck" for economic development.
Earlier this week, I posted a review of what some states, led by Georgia, are doing.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
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Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Want to build brainpower? Focus on early childhood development
