On the beaten path

OK, you got me. She’s only in sixth grade and isn’t being recruited by the CIA, NASA or International Alliance of Human Cloning, which is awaiting the arrival of the intergalactic creators of the universe.

But she’s still one smart cookie.

I like to think it’s the genetic batch she inherited from her father, a self-proclaimed genius, though I suspect, at the suggestion of her mother, that participating in a high-quality preschool program, which we paid for, has something to do with her continued academic success.

Studies show that children who participate in early childhood programs are 40 percent less likely to need special education or be held back a grade and are more likely to graduate from high school, attend college and land a high-paying job.

According to studies, preschool programs improve educational performance, reduce crime, increase tax revenues, decrease dependency on welfare and raise living standards for entire communities.

In fact, a study in New Mexico indicated that every dollar invested in preschool would save $7 in years to come, while a similar study in Louisiana predicted that for every $1 invested in pre-K, the state would recoup $2.25 in benefits.

If that’s the case, I believe parents who enroll their children in preschool should see a small percentage of the profits. That money could go a long way in helping me afford a Jaguar and construct a solid-gold trophy case for my high-school athletic awards. Sure, I’d have to largely fill it with knickknacks, but at least the top shelf would prove my former athletic prowess.

The idea of free universal pre-K has been kicked around for years, and the main sticking point continues to be funding.

Taxpayers are already struggling to shoulder their bulging bill of funding public education in place of state and federal governments that believe shifting the burden elsewhere is working just fine for them.

And it’s too early to tell if Gov. Eliot Spitzer is going to make that much of a difference.

I’m not going to toss around ideas on how universal pre-K should be funded. I elected individuals who are supposed to do that for me, and I refuse to believe claims they are enslaved to special-interest groups that send them on vacations, take them out to dinner and keep them relaxed with weekly spa visits.

It should be noted that 85 percent of an individual’s intellect, personality and social skills are developed by age 5, yet 95 percent of public investment in education occurs after children reach age 5, according to a study released by Harvard University Press.

Another study that began in the 1960s followed a group of low-income children in Michigan from preschool through adulthood and found that those who attended preschool were more likely to graduate from high school and had slightly higher incomes than those who didn’t have such a learning advantage.

Children in Oklahoma’s pre-K program scored significantly higher than their peers who were not in the program on tests of cognitive development, motor skills and language skills.

In the Chicago Preschool program, children who participated in it compared to those who did not had a 20-percent higher rate of high-school completion and a 42-percent lower rate of juvenile offense.

Pre-K should not be a luxury only afforded by families who already have the assets to enrich their children’s academic lives with vacations to historical sites and summer-enrichment programs.

It’s time free pre-K for all becomes a federal mandate, though it should not be an unfunded one.

Maybe the government could spend less on war and begin investing more in our children.