Rob:  Well joining me now is Susan Illgen, executive director of the Smart Start Oklahoma Initiative.  Just how important is early childhood education in terms of our economy?
Susan Illgen:  Well in terms of our economy, it’s really workforce development.  I think sometimes it’s hard to make the comparison between the two, because we think of infants and toddlers and pre-schoolers.  But the reality is, is those first five, six years of life are the most important in the life of a child in terms of preparing them for life.  And so, the investments that we make in their life, whether it’s quality childcare, education programs, supporting their families with parent education, whatever it might be, those things have a seven fold return to us as a society.  So in the end, we’ve not only yielded a productive workforce, but those investments that we have made, as a state, as communities, come back to us seven fold.
Rob:  So how are we doing in terms of those investments?
Illgen:  Well Oklahoma’s doing pretty well in several areas.  Most people know about our pre-kindergarten program.  We’re serving about 70 percent of our kids.  We have done some state-of-the-art and been recognized nationally for some initiatives that we have done with childcare as far as quality rating systems are concerned.  But we still have some work to do.  For example, we have a statewide health insurance program for families and children and either a large number of children that aren’t accessing that and could be.
Rob:  And that’s called Sooner Care, correct?
Illgen:  That’s called Sooner Care, that’s exactly right.  Another area that we’re still struggling in is our infant mortality rates are very, very high, and actually land us about 40th in the nation.  And that’s an area that we’re still looking at and finding ways to improve our system so that we can serve families better and make sure that mothers are healthy and babies are born healthy and stay healthy.
Rob:  Now we’re currently experiencing what I would call a lot of economic insecurity in our economy.  Does that affect childcare?
Illgen:  It does.  It does, because what happens is we have a growing, a shrinking, actually shrinking middle class; more and more families are falling into that lower income category, and that puts a strain upon families to seek out quality childcare and afford it.  If you are low income, you’re much more likely to access childcare because there are special programs for families that need it so that they can afford childcare.  And then of course, if you’re in a position where you have more resources, and you fall in that higher category, you can afford quality childcare and often can find it.  But it’s that middle income family that’s really struggling right now as a result of the economy.  And you know if you look at the rates for infant care, it really compares to the rates for college tuition, very, very high and very unaffordable.  And what happens then is that, that puts pressure on families to find different ways to provide care.
Rob:  So it sounds almost like an issue that’s important not just to people that might be a parent or a grandparent, but really to all of us.
Illgen:  Oh, certainly.  Absolutely, it is.  Decisions that we make as far as investing in families and finding ways to insure that young children have quality programs, it’s very important for us to make those investments.  Because in turn, while the upfront investments may appear to be a little bit more, it comes back to us with a productive workforce much later, and not only that but its reduced cost to society as adults.  These children will grow up and have higher incomes.  They’re more likely to purchase a home and be able to afford a home.  They’ll have better jobs, better paying jobs.  All of those things contribute back to our society.
Rob:  Susan Illgen, executive director of the Smart Start Oklahoma Initiative.