Fox News political contributor Karl Rove attacked President Obama's proposal to expand pre-kindergarten education as too costly, despite the fact that investment in pre-k education returns more money than it costs. Rover further disregarded the reality that federal spending, including the 2009 stimulus, can often result in net savings.
On the February 13 edition of Fox News' Happening Now, host Jon Scott asked Rove about the pre-k education proposal the president outlined in his State of the Union address. Rove acknowledged that he has no evidence detailing the cost of the president's proposal, but claimed that similar plans would cost $25 billion. When Scott pointed out the return on investment, Rove dismissed it:
SCOTT: But you heard especially with regard to that universal pre daycare kind of thing, universal pre-kindergarten kind of thing the president said that for every dollar you spend on that kind of a program, you get something like $14 back.
ROVE: Well that's how we justify everything. The president justified the stimulus by saying if we spent money on the stimulus, 800 and some odd billion dollars that it would grow the economy. Look, we have tried this idea that we can spend our way to prosperity for four years.
Contrary to Rove's assertion, economists agree that the stimulus has a successful record of creating jobs and preventing a deeper economic recession. Rove also failed to take into account the economic benefits of pre-k programs specifically. For instance, according to Scholastic, “Economists say that the return for every dollar invested in preschool can be anywhere from $2 to $17 when you total the drop in special education, grade repetition, and crime, and add the value of a more productive workforce.” A 2005 study by the University of Texas' Children's Learning Institute estimates the return on investment at somewhere between $7 and $8 for every dollar spent, and National Head Start Association study pegs the benefits at $9 returned for every $1 invested in Head Start alone.
From the Children's Learning Institute:
