The newspaper Education Week is out with its annual report card on the state of American education.

Overall, the country gets a C for its performance on a range of measures, with Massachusetts finishing first among the states. When it comes to educating the youngest children, things look even worse. Less than half of 3- and 4-year-olds are enrolled in preschool, with young children from low-income families even less likely to be in school.

What does it mean for our society and economy to be doing such a bad job of preparing kids for school?

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