Universal Preschool Legislation

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Pages: 7

In the United States, the policy of universal preschool has garnered ever-increasing attention in recent years as policymakers and education advocates continue to stress the benefits of investing in early childhood education. While some point to the economic returns of preschool policies, others talk of preschool’s ability to enable social mobility and lessen the class divide between rich and poor Americans. In the past, the preschool industry was strictly privatized, but the financial burden of preschool education continues to shift to the public sector and be financed by the local, state, and federal government (Bushouse 2). According to Dr. Chris Curran of Vanderbilt University, universal preschool is, “government-funded preschool to all children regardless of economic background, disability status, neighborhood poverty, or other qualifying characteristics “(Curran 2). The status quo in the United States is that families below a certain income threshold are eligible for state-funded child care or preschool while children above that level pay out of pocket (Bushouse 1-2). Currently, only ten states have passed universal preschool legislation (Curran 3). Today in the United …show more content…
Another popular study followed the Chicago Child-Parent-Centers. Like the Perry Preschool Program, this program was targeted, so it aimed to serve disadvantaged and at-risk student populations. The program returned money to the educational system by reducing the rate of students that needed special education and curbing grade repetitions. The program had a benefit-cost ratio of about 10.83 (Karoly 46). Critics of the Chicago CPC study cite potential bias from the lack of data collected by the students who dropped out of the program. Additionally, the program was a relatively small study which leads to questions of whether the data could be replicated on a widespread scale