State chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics focuses on early education

By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff

Several years ago, leaders of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics decided they would focus on advocating for more programs and resources for early childhood education. Then the recession hit, and they found themselves fighting to preserve those resources already in place.

Now the chapter is convening leaders in research, education, and advocacy with the goal of jump starting that project once again.

As the economy improves “I really think there’s going to be a very long line of people standing up on Beacon Hill with their hands out with very worthy causes,” said Dr. Gregory Hagan, a primary care pediatrician with Cambridge Health Alliance and president of the state chapter. “I wanted to position advocates to really feel like we should be at the front of that line.”

Investing in early education not only makes sense for the developmental health and future of the children in the state. It makes sense in dollars and cents, Hagan said.

“Smart investment in at-risk children can pay in dividends in terms of lower cost for special education, more children obtaining higher education levels, decreased rates of incarceration, decreased rates of drug use, higher rates of college education, you name it - a whole range of social measures that have been shown to be dramatically improved,” he said.

Several large studies support that idea. University of Chicago economist James Heckman, winner of the Nobel Prize, wrote last year explaining to national leaders how early education can help solve the country’s budget woes.

“It is quite clear from an economic standpoint,” Heckman wrote. “We can gain money by investing early to close disparities and prevent achievement gaps, or we can continue to drive up deficit spending by paying to remediate disparities when they are harder and more expensive to close. Either way we are going to pay. And, we’ll have to do both for a while. But, there is an important difference between the two. Investing early allows us to shape the future and build equity; investing later chains us to fixing the missed opportunities of the past—for which we will pay dearly.”

The chapter is hosting an event Wednesday at the Massachusetts Medical Society headquarters in Waltham, in partnership with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Boston Children’s Museum, and Early Education for All, a campaign of Strategies for Children. The event, which is full, is aimed at creating an agenda for the campaign moving forward.

Speakers will include Charles Nelson, research director of the Division of Developmental Medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston and Robert Dugger, co-founder of Partnership for America’s Economic Success, a project of Pew Charitable Trusts focused on building business support for early childhood education.

The Cathleen Haggerty, executive director of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, is taking names for a waiting list and for future activities. To sign up, call (781) 895-9852.