From cradle to career: Building Louisiana's workforce begins with early learning
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As someone who has spent much of my career building businesses and investing in the community, I've learned that success doesn't happen by accident. It results from careful planning, strategic investment and a commitment to long-term growth.
This approach applies not only to business but also to our most important resource: our children. The future of our state's economy depends on how well we invest in our youngest citizens, and no investment is more impactful than early childhood education.
When families can access reliable, high-quality early education for their children, parents can go to work or school, and businesses thrive with a stable workforce. Most importantly, children enter kindergarten ready to succeed and better prepared to become the skilled workers and leaders of the future that our economy depends on.
In pro-family, pro-business states like ours, quality child care should be a cornerstone of family stability, worker productivity, and economic growth. Yet in Louisiana, despite years of progress and bipartisan support for early learning, we still fund this essential system as if it's optional.
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Nearly 174,000 children under age 5 in Louisiana are in households experiencing economic hardship, yet only one in five have access to high-quality early childhood education.
Programs like Head Start, LA 4, and the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) are funded through federal and state funds and serve thousands of children, yet the demand still outpaces the supply. While the majority of funding for Louisiana's child care programs comes from the federal government, state lawmakers ultimately decide how those dollars are used — and how much more we invest.
The quality of our current and future workforce shouldn't be left solely to decisions made in Washington.
Despite investments from all levels of government, more than 116,00 economically disadvantaged Louisiana children, from birth to age 4, still lack access to a high-quality, affordable child care program. Any changes in state and federal funding streams directly and immediately impact our working families, who need access to quality child care the most.
Due to inadequate funding, many families are left without affordable, high-quality child care options, leaving our children and their working parents behind. Whether we act or not, Louisiana's future workforce is growing up right now. When we make it possible for children to access early learning programs, the data is clear: they are more likely to graduate from high school, secure well-paying jobs, and contribute to their communities.
Failure to act leads to costly outcomes for our future communities and economy. But the gap in funding and access isn't just a future problem — it impacts all of us today.
Louisiana currently loses an estimated $1.3 billion annually in lost productivity, tax revenue and turnover costs due to inadequate access to child care. Yet, studies show that every dollar invested in early education returns at least 13% due to higher earnings, reduced social and academic remedial costs, and better long-term health outcomes.
It's time for Louisiana to treat early childhood education not as an option but as an essential investment in our present and future. This legislative session, Louisiana lawmakers have the opportunity — and the obligation — to sustain and grow investments in early childhood education.
Our children deserve a strong start. Our parents deserve the ability to work. And our state deserves a workforce ready to compete.
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