The complete version of this testimony is available here as an Adobe Acrobat PDF.

Because I understand that the other witnesses will make the case for investing in young children (something that I strongly agree with in theory), I will discuss what I see as the underlying question before you: How to invest in preschool programs so that they have a reasonable chance of being a success, or, to borrow a phrase from the investment world, so that they do not go sour? That is the real challenge before you, and the nation.

Because my time is short, I decided to put my testimony in the form of a series of questions and at least partial answers. Also, although there has been a tendency to speak about the goal of "universal preschool," I will address only programs for low-income children because their needs are greatest.

Many of the points I make below are discussed in greater detail in "Giving Head Start a Fresh Start" in Handbook of Families and Poverty, eds. Russell Crane and Tim Heaton (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, forthcoming, 2007).

The complete version of this testimony is available here as an Adobe Acrobat PDF.

Douglas J. Besharov is the Joseph J. and Violet Jacobs Scholar in Social Welfare Studies at AEI.