PLY: Wishing you a very Happy St Me’s Day, with SIB News from Harvard.
Rep. Todd Stephens’ Pre-K Push Gets Boost From Harvard (subscription)
Gary Weckselblatt – The Intelligencer
State Rep. Todd Stephens’ efforts to expand prekindergarten in Pennsylvania without additional costs to taxpayers are beginning to bear fruit with help from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Harvard approved a grant application, authored by Stephens and commended by Gov. Tom Wolf, to help develop projects in which working capital is supplied by the private sector and government only pays after results are achieved.
The Pay for Success projects are administered through Harvard’s Social Impact Bond Technical Assistance Lab. The bonds are privately financed and support high impact social programs, such as pre-K. If the program is successful, the taxpayers save through future cost reductions. If the program is unsuccessful, private investors bear the risk. If the program generates a savings for the taxpayers in the future, investors receive a portion of those savings.
“If there are no savings, the government doesn’t pay a penny,” said Stephens, who added he was “thrilled” Harvard approved his application.