Maine's business community today got behind a proposal to expand the availability of early childhood education: a measure which they say is important for the economic development of the state. A report released by the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and the Maine Development Foundation calls for increased investment in pre-K schooling, using a mixture of public and private money.

The report is the third in a series called Making Maine Work.

"The best chance that we have of truly reaching our highest potential in our people is to start at birth," said Dana Connors. He is president of the Maine State Chamber. "Waiting until our children enter the k-12 system to invest in them is too late for too many."

"This is definitely an economic imperative for Maine," said Laurie Lachance, president and CEO of the Maine Development Foundation - a non-profit dedicated to driving long-term economic growth for the state.

She pointed out that only 36% of Maine 4th graders are able to read at a proficient level. Part of the blame for this, she said, is that for many kids, education doesn't really start until they enter kindergarten, at the age of 5. This is too late, she added, because studies show 85% of braining development occurring during the first 3 years of life.

The report's mantra could perhaps be described this way: earlier investment means a greater return. One figure repeatedly mentioned is that for every dollar invested in high quality education from an early age, a return of more than $16 is possible. Lachance said that's because as well as increasing a person's own economic prospects, investment in early education also benefits society.

"We avoid remedial costs of education that are driving the costs of our K through 12 system, it's avoided social assistance costs later in late, it's avoided costs of criminal justice that has to intercede in a person's life if they don't get on a more productive path."

The availability of public school pre-K programs has increased in recent years, but still only covers a fraction of the state. One of this report's recommendations is to expand these programs to every school district in Maine. Part of that cost would be covered by private businesses.

"I'm pleased to announce that last night here in Portland a new initiative was formed to use private funds to support and enhance improved access to quality," said Jim Clair. He's CEO of Goold Health Systems. The Augusta-based company is one of 8 who signed up to the Maine Early Learning Investment Group, to create an endowment for the funding of early education programs.

Other participating businesses include Bath Iron Works and Hannaford Brothers. The report also calls for more public dollars from the state's General Fund to go towards pre-K. State officials support the aims of the report, but say it won't be easy getting there.

"It's an issue of funding of course, I mean it's going to be very expensive," said David Connerty-Marin, spokesman for the Maine Department of Education. "We do support public pre-school programs now through the state funding formula."

He says 27% of Maine's 4-year olds currently receive public pre-K schooling: an increase of more than 80% over the last 6 years.