Preschool Benefits Grossly Exaggerated

In case you missed it with all the activities last year, The Reason Foundation released a report challenging a Rand Corporation study that claims universal preschool will deliver $2.62 in benefits for every dollar spent by California taxpayers. The Rand report has been thoroughly discredited by two San Jose State University economics professors who show the Rand preschool study "cherry-picked" data, based its claims on "unbelievable assumptions that bias the results," and omitted numerous costs and other factors that significantly lower the alleged benefits of universal preschool.

"On the surface the Rand study looks like a credible, thoroughly research document," said Chris Cardiff, who teaches economics at San Jose State University and is co-author of the analysis of Rand's universal preschool study. "But upon review we found the Rand study fails to pass even the basic benchmarks of what can be considered a reasonable economic analysis." "Nearly every time there is a choice on how to calculate the benefits of preschool, Rand chooses the rosiest – and most unlikely – scenario," stated Edward Stringham, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics at San Jose State and co-author of the review. "When it comes to the costs of universal preschool, Rand completely ignores some costs and dramatically underestimates others. Frankly, if one of my students turned in Rand's cost-benefit analysis on preschool it would get an ‘F.'" [Read More - Also a link to download the Full Report]

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