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From the Chalkboard: The debate over state-mandated preschool
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Anonymous user Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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0 responses 0 comments In the recent elections California voters overwhelmingly rejected Proposition 82, the Preschool for All initiative which would have provided for 4-year-olds to attend a state-run government preschool.

Proponents argued that Preschool for All would provide preschool-age children with early skills that, in the long run, would decrease dropout rates and close the achievement gap in K-12 schools. The program would have been funded by taxing individuals earning over $400,000 or couples earning over $800,000.

Few people would dispute the merits of Proposition 82. Preschool for all 4-year-olds is a noble and worthy goal.

However, as is usually the case, the devil is in the details. The initiative would have set up a cumbersome bureaucracy placed under the State Department of Education, which has done a disappointing job with K-12 schools. The stated goal would provide government-funded preschool for 70 percent of California’s 4-year-olds. The plan seemed to ignore the fact that approximately 62 percent of California’s 4-year-olds already attend preschool in private or Head Start programs. So 2.4 billion a year seems like a lot of money for an 8 percent increase.

It appears that the bulk of these funds would have been used to subsidize parents who could already afford preschool. A better approach would target only families who cannot afford tuition. A little noticed provision of Proposition 82 would have allowed the legislature to impose fees on preschool families if the revenue stream proved insufficient.

The plan also called for state certification of all preschool teachers. Teachers who be required to hold BA degrees and teaching credentials.

With the shortage of qualified, credentialed K-12 teachers it is unrealistic that thousands of new teachers who possess such qualifications could be found. While it is true that preschool education needs qualified teachers, they do not need the level of training required of K-12 teachers. Under the state requirements, many experienced and qualified preschool teachers would be rendered unemployable. Had Proposition 82 succeeded, free market would have been destroyed as the state implemented licensing requirements and other regulations.

There are other logistical problems. Even if it were free, classes were only three hours each day. What would parents have done then? Pick them up and drop them off at another center? Merely getting these students to school in the first place would have been a major burden for many parents. I suppose a new busing program for these students would have been the next initiative.

Also, do these schools have to be accredited? Would there be academic standards? Does the state have to invest in buildings and other facilities and resources?

Others argue that students who do not go to preschool catch up with those who did attend in the first year of kindergarten, making the preschool experience not  nearly as important as proponents argue.

Finally, if we have thousands of students leaving high school who cannot pass a simple exit exam and have to take remedial classes prior to college entrance, wouldn’t the money best be spent there? Do we really believe a three-hour preschool experience is going to make a difference?

If the same strategies that currently exist at the K-12 level were applied to state-mandated preschools I am quite certain that the Preschool for All program would never be successful.

I am not opposed to increasing educational opportunities, but California has much to do to improve the performance of its K-12 system. This is not the time to launch a massive publicly funded preschool program. I am not interested, nor are most Californians, about the establishment of another government bureaucracy.

If preschool is important to us as a state, then a better plan needs to be developed. It appears that proponents are eager to do so.

E-mail Dick at: dferris@bakersfieldfirst.com

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