Biden’s preschool plan replaces advantages of parenting with authorities intervention | Opinion
Early education advocates want you to believe that the arguments for a universal preschool are so concrete that it is heresy to question their track record. After all, who wouldn’t want to help adorable little kids achieve early success? However, the data show that a universal preschool will have an adverse impact on children as it seeks government intervention to offer what only families can offer.
The issue erupted in March during the Idaho legislature as officials considered accepting $ 6 million in federal grants for preschool education. The bill would have established a partnership between the Idaho Department of Education and the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children (IDAEYC). The controversy? IDAEYC, accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, could use the grant to encourage Idaho to establish a nationwide pre-K system that educates children in alert ideology. The bill failed by just under two votes, but this is not the federal government’s last attempt to control Pre-K training in the gemstone state.
The most recent example of this federal intervention is the Biden administration’s new American Families Plan, which would dramatically expand the role of the federal government in educational and family life. In addition to subsidized childcare, paid family vacations, and “free” community college for everyone, the $ 1.8 trillion plan would put $ 200 billion in universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds.
When asked how they are going to pay for all of this, the administration gives the standard answer: “We will tax the rich.” But Idahoans are already expected to pay the bill.
Biden believes it is necessary to extend the state monopoly on children’s education by two additional years of preschool. In his speech on the state of the union in April, he said: “Twelve years are no longer enough to make the 21st It made us the best educated and best prepared nation in the world. “
This claim is obviously wrong. According to the results of the latest international PISA exam, which assesses academic performance of 15-year-olds from 79 countries, 30 countries outperformed the US in math. The reading results have stagnated for years. These lackluster results continue even as state and state governments invest more tax dollars in education than other higher performing countries.
A public preschool for younger children is irresponsible as the public school system does not educate the children currently enrolled.
Federal preschool programs have been tried and failed. A study by the U.S. Department of Health found that the Head Start program, which served low-income children, had little to no impact on children’s cognitive and health outcomes.
The first randomized controlled study of a state pre-kindergarten program in Tennessee found that early gains at the end of pre-K quickly resulted in poorer academic performance, more discipline issues, and higher special education places than children who did not attend.
In addition, the long-term benefits of Pre-K are negligible for most middle- and upper-income children.
A handful of studies that found a link between preschool education and positive childhood outcomes relied on a flimsy link. The real reason for success in childhood was upbringing, not preschool. And far more worrying than the high costs and poor results of a universal Pre-K program is the weakening of families through the expansion of the welfare state.
Subsidized government preschools will no doubt add to the cost of home parenting. Parents who choose not to send their children to state kindergarten or to have children at all will be forced to subsidize the burden on others. Universal preschool therefore increases the cost of home parenting and puts a greater financial burden on those who have chosen not to have children. As the cost of home parenting increases, businesses are likely to see an influx of parents entering the labor market – not because they prefer to work, but out of a newfound need imposed on them by government regulation.
An American Compass poll found that 53% of married mothers prefer to have a full-time breadwinner and a home parent while raising children under the age of five. However, universal preschool will make it difficult for parents to choose, especially mothers who prefer to be at home with their children. And make no mistake – young children need their mothers. The psychologist Erica Komisar explains: “Our denial of the very specific and special physical and emotional role of a mother for her child, especially in our striving to be modern, is not in the best interests of the children and their needs.” At home, stay-at-home mothers return to the deteriorating mental and emotional health of their children.
An expansion of the educational monopoly will also drive up the cost of early childhood education. The state preschool programs must pay their teachers a minimum wage of $ 15, meet state standards, and use a state-approved curriculum. This expansion will hamper the market for early childhood programs and limit parenting choices. Although many parents’ standards for quality education differ from state standards, they will find that alternative education options become limited and deteriorate as the government takes more control over the education sector.
Universal preschool will increase the cost of early education, limit parenting choices and affect child development. Lawyers may want to distance themselves from these inconvenient facts, but the government will never be able to offer what only families can do for children.
