Enrolling in high-quality preschool programs helps children enter kindergarten prepared to learn — and you can take that to the bank.
That’s the message from the United Way of Salt Lake, which announced Wednesday that a check for $267,000 had been cut for investment bankers who funded public-preschool expansion in Utah.
The payment is the result of a unique pay-for-success financing model, in which private firms foot the bill for public services and are repaid with interest if those services generate cost savings for the state.
Private funding allowed about 600 students to enroll in public and private preschool programs in 2013. Of those students, 110 4-year-olds were expected to need special education during their kindergarten year.
But only one of the students — who are now in the first grade — has required special education, which translates to about $281,000 in cost avoidance for Utah’s public education system.
“We’re excited about the results,” said Andrea Phillips, a vice president in Goldman Sachs’ Urban Investment Group, “not only because it means the kids are doing well in kindergarten,” but also that “our investment is performing.”