Some BIG Numbers Just like the 72,000 people in the stadium and the other estimated100 million people around the world, I spent Sunday watching the Super Bowl. Like many of those watching, this was the only football game I watched all year. You guessed it, I am not a football fan but I am married to one and two of my three children are as well. So I watched the Super Bowl, and this is what I got out of it. Face value of a ticket was $600. At 72,000 fans in the stands that equals $43,200,000. and we all know that a lot of those fans paid over face value to get those tickets. That is just tickets, add to that the amount spent on refreshments and souvenirs. Super bowl ads were going for $4 million per 30 seconds. With just 30 minutes of ads that is $120 million dollars. Big numbers right? Last month, a consortium of Minnesotans asked Governor Mark Dayton for $185 million of his budget for early childhood education. Minneminds wants to even the playing field for low income children, enabling them to start kindergarten at the same ability level as their average and high income peers. Here are some other big numbers for you to consider: - 93 million American Adults have limited Reading skills. Put them all togther and they would fill1291 Super Domes.
- 30 million American adults read below a basic level. They would fill 416 of those Super Domes.
- 70% of adult welfare recipients have low level literacy skills.
- 47% of adult welfare recipients have not graduated from high school.
Individuals with low literacy skills cost society in insurance and taxes because: - They are less likely to get their blood pressure checked.
- They are less likely to own a fire extinguisher.
- They are less likely to have a first aid kit
- They are less likely to have access to health care.
Every dollar invested to help children from low-income families receive high-quality early-learning programs means $16 saved down the line because these better-educated youngsters are:
- more likely to graduate from high school and college
- more likely to get decent-paying jobs
- more likely to stay out of prison
Big numbers all around, but do the math. Consider where you think your money is best spent. I hope you choose joining the United Way and investing in the future of America, by investing in early childhood education. Thanks for reading, Maureen Nelson | 
