Universal Pre-K Education



Universal Pre-K Education

Prepared by: Tabi Miller

Prepared on: November 3, 2007

Possible Resolutions: This house would reform American education. This house would start early.

Government: The USFG will/should provide for nationally funded universal pre-K education.

Opposition: Status quo – allow the states to implement their own pre-K programs.

Definition: Pre-K education (preschool) – these are ½ or whole day programs for four and five year-olds which have a central aim of promoting the acquisition of skills, knowledge, and behaviors that are associated with success in elementary school.

Universal - a universal program means that the program is universally available, but that parents are free to enroll their children or not as they see fit.

Issue Overview:

School readiness has become a primary goal set forth in the National Education Goals. Recent Democratic debates have shown that leading candidates, Hillary, Barack, John Edwards, and others support a program for pre-K education. Children are being asked to meet higher standards in school beginning at kindergarten and rigorous requirements follow them from the elementary level to middle and high school.

Universal pre-K is a movement to provide quality pre-schooling to all 4 and 5 year olds regardless of income. It is currently a state funded program as opposed to a federally funded program like Head Start. Each state with a program has individual legislation that sets its mandates. The number of states that administer publicly funded pre-K services is 38, with combined enrollments exceeding 700,000 children and total state spending exceeding $2.5 billion.

The 10th Amendment of the Constitution says that anything not explicitly provided for in the Constitution is the province of the states and thus, responsibility for education is reserved to the States and local school systems (teachers are licensed and paid by the state). But for many decades the federal government has become increasingly involved in setting standards and distributing funds to America’s schools. With No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal funds play a greater role in education.

Reasons for Pre-Kindergarten Education:

1. Numerous national and state research studies have acclaimed the success of pre-K education to contributing to a child’s overall development. A careful meta-analysis of state-funded preschool programs in 13 states found statistically significant positive impacts on some aspect of child development (cognitive, language, or social) in all of the states. In Michigan, teachers rated students who attended a pre-K program higher in language, literacy, math, music, and social relations; students who attended a pre-K program were more likely to pass the Michigan Educational Assessment Program’s reading and mathematics tests.

2. For some families a child is reared with careful attention by a parent or grandparent. In others, however, the demands of work require long hours away from children, which decrease the quality of their care. The majority of women in the U.S. currently return to work within 6 months of their child’s birth (NPR). In addition, an analysis of the national data found that kindergarten students who had attended a pre-K program scored higher on reading and math tests than children receiving parental care.

3. Currently 80% of 4-5 year olds (pre-Kindergarten) spend time out of the home (NPR). Some in state funded pre-K, some in private preschool, but the vast majority in Day Care. The quality of Day Care programs is notoriously imbalanced among socio-economic groups. Research has found no significant relationship between Day Care attendance and academic or social achievement.

4. States are in financial crisis. Higher costs in a variety of areas (transportation, droughts, and natural disasters) have left programs that are dependent on state funds quite vulnerable to cuts. Pre-K education has historically been inconsistent in its quality from state to state. Some states, like Oklahoma and Georgia have reported significant impacts to student achievement. Others, like Florida, did not invest the required funding and the result has been a disastrous case study. A national mandate will ensure national funding and quality standards which will insure that students all over the country will benefit from the advantages of pre-K, not just the wealthy.

5. Not only will federal funding to pre-K help ease the burden to states, it is actually economically advantageous to the states. Economic evaluations find small-scale pre-K programs generate high economic returns to the state. In the long-term individuals who attend pre-K are less likely to need special ed classes and less likely to drop out of school. Yet they are more likely to graduate from high school and more likely to be responsible citizens and pay taxes. Taxpayers are also benefited, as those who have had preschool education are more likely to avoid the welfare system and the criminal justice system, thus saving them money. A national program will offer pre-K provisions targeted to low-income families which will help the poorest of society to overcome the cycle of poverty and close the income gap in the U.S.

6. Federal impacts to education have been historically beneficial. Without national intervention many of these items would not have come to pass in individual states – Civil Rights, Special Education, handicap accessibilities, vocational education. Quality care for some of the youngest in society must be a primary priority.

Reasons against Pre-Kindergarten Education:

1. State programs are widespread. All but 12 states provide for universal pre-K and the others have a variety of developmental programs that are serving children’s needs. With the increased pressure of testing, it is likely that the remaining states will naturally introduce programs of their own.

2. Small state programs are preferable to federal bureaucracy. Large-scale public preschool programs, including Head Start, Barnett (1995, 1998) found that public programs often had weaker effects on childhood achievement than the private sector institutions. The government should encourage private sector expansion, not dilute the quality of care by making it a public institution.

3. While there have been some links between higher quality preschool and children’s cognitive and language development it has also been repeatedly documented that poor care can hurt a child’s development in these areas. This is particularly true in large programs where large groups of children are assigned to few adults.

4. Federal education programs under the current administration have been disastrous. NCLB has punished failing schools while providing little to no assistance for success. In particular, socio-economically disadvantaged, limited English proficiency, and learning disabled populations of students are being harmed. The states are better at determining the needs of their unique student bodies.

5. The federal government has not yet followed through on the funding programs of NCLB. The government should focus funding toward improving the quality of current educational programs for 5-18 year-olds instead of extending poor quality education for an additional year. The United States is currently facing a record breaking deficit and trillions of dollars of estimated costs in the War on Terror. A new gigantic federal program is not feasible at this time.

6. Young children should not be required to meet vigorous testing standards. The brain is still in its initial stages of development and play is more important to a child’s success than academic drills or testing. Children should be allowed to creatively develop in the early years of their lives. Federal elementary programs have emphasized rote learning, a learning technique which avoids understanding of a subject and instead focuses on memorization. State programs are more likely to build a variety of thought and skill building techniques which can help to produce more well rounded students who can effectively and creatively problem solve and drive innovation.

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