Every year, Utah lawmakers make big decisions about what we value. We debate tax cuts, celebrate budget surpluses, and funnel billions into reserve accounts. Yet, every year we largely overlook the most critical and time-sensitive investment we could possibly make: children from birth to age 5. The numbers tell a story that should stop us in our tracks. Utah spends roughly $6 billion annually on K–12 education. But for children who have yet to enter a classroom, state investment plunges to approximately $150 million. Spread across more than 300,000 young children, the state invests about $480 per child before kindergarten, compared to roughly $8,600 per child once they enter school. In other words, we spend nearly 18 times more on a child after age 5 than before. We aren’t just under-investing. We are investing in the wrong years. The biological reality of childhood doesn’t wait for a school bell. By age 5, 90% of a child’s brain is already developed, laying the permanent foundation for language, emotional regulation, and lifelong learning. Nobel Prize–winning economist James Heckman has demonstrated that high-quality early childhood investments yield annual returns of 7%–13%. These dividends manifest through better health outcomes, higher lifetime earnings, and significantly reduced public costs in the long run. The conclusion is simple: The earlier we invest, the more we save and the better our children fare. Currently, that $150 million is stretched thin across vital services: child-care assistance for working families, early intervention for developmental delays, and maternal health supports. These are not luxuries. They are the infrastructure that allows Utah families to work and communities to thrive. However, these programs are currently funded at levels that are incremental and fragmented, leaving thousands of families on the sidelines. Meanwhile, Utah holds more than $15 billion in reserve funds, a point of pride for our state’s fiscal discipline. But it raises a haunting question: What are we saving for if not for this? If we can afford to set aside billions for a rainy day, we can afford to invest in the children who will lead our state through the storms of the future. This is not a zero-sum game. Utah must continue its robust support for K–12 education, but we can no longer pretend that starting at age 5 is early enough. A child who enters the system already behind faces a trajectory that is difficult and expensive to reverse. The good news? Closing this gap doesn’t require a radical overhaul. A $50 million increase in early childhood funding represents less than 1% of the K–12 budget. Yet that 1% could dramatically expand child-care access, improve school readiness, and support families during their most critical years. Utah prides itself on being the best place in the nation to raise a family. But right now, our budget sends a different message: We’ll start caring when they turn 5. The science, the data, and the lived reality of Utah parents all say the same thing: That is too late. We have the resources and we have the evidence. What we need now is the political will to act sooner. By the time a child walks into their first classroom, the most important work of their life has already begun. It’s time our state budget reflected that. Moe Hickey, a Park City resident, is the executive director of Voices for Utah Children. The post Utah’s missing investment: Why do we wait till kindergarten to care about kids? appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less