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May 19, 2006
The best investment? Pre-K educationWith new studies out that show investing money in kids before kindergarten increases their chances of graduating and staying out of jail, Stateline.org is reporting that nearly half of governors this year are pushing for more funding for preschool education.
Californians are voting June 6 on Proposition 82, which will fund partial-day preschool for all 4-year olds in the state. Currently, the state provides preschool to only about one in five 4-year-olds. Last week, Illinois lawmakers approved a plan for preschool for all 3-year olds. California and Illinois are following the lead of Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma, the only other states currently offering preschool to all 4-year-olds.
According to Stateline.org,
Opponents of California's universal preschool proposal, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and conservative taxpayer groups, say it is too costly and would take money away from K-12 schools and other state services. They also argue that less than 9 percent of funding from the program would go to enroll "high risk" children in preschool -- those from lower-income families or who historically have shown achievement gaps.Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, said targeting low-income students is not enough to boost student achievement in states such as California.
"Californians' incomes are above average nationally, and yet their students are scoring nearly dead last with states like Mississippi. That's not just poor kids having trouble, it's also poor performance of middle-class kids dragging state achievement down," Barnett said.
To read the entire article from Stateline, click here.
Posted May 19, 2006 3:55 PM | Early Childhood Education
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Comments(1)
Posted by: RDT on May 22, 2006 4:32 PM
While I support Prop 82, there seems to me to be some logical flaws in the argument here. Many middle class kids in California go to preschool now, and still struggle academically. Those students would probably be better served by greater investment in California's K-12 program --which, when California high cost of living and doing business is taken into account, has one of the lowest levels of per-pupil funding in the country -- than by free preschool. But there's certainly room for both.
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