‘Summit’ Links Preschool to Economic Success

Telluride, Colo.

Hoping to win over skeptical policymakers, leaders from the business, philanthropic, and political arenas gathered here this week to strengthen their message that spending money on early-childhood education will improve high school graduation rates and help keep the United States economically strong.

“We’re no longer competing just with Colorado; we’re competing with China,” said Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, one of three governors to speak at the Telluride event. “We need to challenge every single educator to create the next engineer.”

Participants learned, however, that they face significant challenges in persuading more business leaders to buy into the cause of expanding strong preschool programs, particularly for children considered at high risk for later...