Quelling the Preschool Enthusiasm

Lindsey Burke / May 20, 2009

The Washington Post recently ran a piece by Chester Finn, asking to “slow the preschool bandwagon”, which currently consists of a $10 billion pledge by President Obama for his “zero to five” program, numerous bills in Congress to promote states’ efforts in implementing universal preschool, and a chorus of governors, unions, and preschool advocacy groups across the country pushing for an increased federal role in early education. Finn notes:

For all its surface appeal, universal preschool is an unwise use of tax dollars…It fails to overhaul expensive but woefully ineffectual efforts such as Head Start. And it dumps 5-year-olds, ready or not, into public-school classrooms that today are unable even to make and sustain their own achievement gains, much less to capitalize on any advances these youngsters bring from preschool. Part of the energy behind universal pre-K is school systems – and teachers unions – maneuvering to expand their own mandates, revenue and membership rolls.

Finn also notes that it is a myth that preschool programs have been educationally effective: (more…)