Motoko Rich, New York Times education reporter, talks about the debate over universal Pre-K -- one of the proposals in the president's State of the Union.
Motoko Rich, New York Times education reporter, talks about the debate over universal Pre-K -- one of the proposals in the president's State of the Union.
Comments [10]
Who is going to get up and sing the praises of Head Start, which as we see decades later, has not made a shred of difference?
Evidence: Standardized test scores.
Even in the 1970's, Senior Year of High School was the least important year of the four years. Mandatory Pre K will make High School Senior year even more of a party and/or students graduating with more college credits at taxpayers' expense. Eliminate Senior Year in High School and use the funds for Pre K. We will all win!!!
Universal preschool is okay, but its just a smokescreen or bandaid to what we really need. Free college.so that a descision someone makes when they,are 18 doesnt mean they want to kill themselves out of bordom for the rest of their lives. We should br able to live anywhere on earth whenever we want, and go to college anytime we want, switch jobs anytime we wany with out this sick perversio. For "experience" evvery job can be reduced to a series of steps. Specialisation is making us miopic apathetic idiots with sleep deprivation.
Pre-K would be wonderful, but only if it is developmentally appropriate. If it is only more letter and number recognition forced on kids at an even younger age, instead of learning to play and draw and cut and paint and socialize shown to be much more important by Piaget, Duckworth, etc, it will not only be a waste, but will turn off the kids to learning at an even earlier age.
The discussions of cost benefits for universal preschool do not address the real concerns of many conservatives: they do not want to increase the competition for their own kids' futures in a shrinking job market That's why they focus on the responsibility of parents. Everyone assumes they themselves are good parents and so they feel that they should have the right to pass on competitive advantages to their children...just as they believe they should be able to pass own their wealth without government interference and "leveling" in the form of inheritance taxes.
Scott, HCZ (Geoffrey Canada's organization) has a 9 week program to help parents in the lower socioeconomic strata improve parenting skills(He calls it Baby College). I wish he was part of this conversation :-(
My sister was a schoolyard monitor for years
and she said the kids who had been in pre k
were always the worst behaved.
How dare you let this guest suggest that good parenting allows for their children to be more successful at pre school.
Not to take away from the topic at hand but I'd like to just mention: What about offering free quality higher-education to all citizens who qualify, the way many other countries do?
Is this even getting any mention?
Wouldn't it be an _investment_ in the nation, since many of the students would become _assets_?
Why wasn't Geoffrey Canada a part of the conversation? I hope he was asked at least?
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.