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One pillar of the Democratic platform this election is universal pre-K, lauded by Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and followers as a necessary improvement to an “embarrassment” of an early childhood education system and necessary to ensure every child has “the chance to live up to his or her God-given potential” – not to mention get parents of young children back into the workforce. While the GOP platform included no such commitment, many early contenders in the race as state governors had accepted federal funds for early childhood education.
But what exactly is the research landscape of early childhood education? Is there any evidence that federally funded pre-K will be a magic salve for families across the country? And more generally, what does government need to do, and what can government do, to make sure children are well cared for in their most vulnerable years?
Katharine Stevens joined me to discuss all this. She leads the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) early-childhood program. She founded and led Teachers for Tomorrow, one of the first urban teacher-residency programs in the United States, out of New York City’s lowest-performing schools. She began her career in public education as a preschool teacher in New Haven, Connecticut, and St. Louis, Missouri. Ms. Stevens has a Ph.D. in education policy from Columbia University, a M.Ed. from Teachers College, an MBA from Columbia Business School, and a B.A. in US history from the University of Chicago.
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Two things: Pre-K and all this stuff is just a band-aid to the disintegrated family, poor economy and welfare dependence. The other is that is this research in support of centralized government, command-and-control education. End the Dept. of Education and it’s destructive programs. Let states, counties, cities and school districts figure out what is right. They can form consortia.
Free day care! We are all kibbutzes now.
Haven’t listened yet, but will. As a young mother, I didn’t know you were supposed to put your young one in preschool and/or play school with them before they went. My siblings and I never went. Mom was a pediatric nurse, so not ignorant. My oldest was put in young fives because he didn’t know what his dad did for a living, didn’t know his address or phone number. I was horrified I failed him. In October, at the first parent teacher conference, the teacher informed me he was way ahead of the class patterning and was a natural leader. A few years later, I was hired at the new school preschool/daycare because I was a good parent. I hated that year, especially the daycare section. I am glad I stayed home with my kids. It is very difficult to be in a room with a minimum adult to child ratio and provide any kind of meaningful interaction with a child when they need it. Try sitting in a chair reading to a nice little girl when a wooden block goes zinging past thrown by the most spoiled, exhaustive kid you’ve met. This was a rural preschool funded with tax dollars. The director was well qualified. My kids did fine in school, you would never know they did not attend preschool. I don’t think anyone could convince me it is worth a dime.
Bingo.