Quality Early Education and Childcare Necessary for Creating Generational Wealth

By Scott Benson, Detroit City Councilmember & Improving childcare and early education options in the City of Detroit is a challenge, but my office is actively finding ways to make an impact. My interest in this issue deepened while chairing the Wealth Generation Task Force (WGTF), where we identified education as one of our six pillars. Quality early childhood education is crucial because it helps families achieve economic security by enabling parents to fully engage in the workforce, while also ensuring our youngest residents are prepared for kindergarten on day one. This early preparation can have a profound impact on their future trajectory. & One challenge we face as a city is that we have no direct responsibility for K-12 education, which falls under the State’s purview. However, the WGTF has focused its attention on the Brightmoor Childcare Quality Initiative (BQI), supported by the Max and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation, as a model that can be expanded across Detroit. Doug Bitonti Stewart, Executive Director of the foundation, put it well: “Putting resources in the hands of the caregivers and teachers who prepare our littlest ones to enter the kindergarten door ready to go is one of the most important investments...