|
Alittle-noticed proposal buried in Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggers revised budget could point the way to an expansion of preschool for the children who need it most even if voters reject Proposition 82, the universal preschool initiative on the June 6 ballot. Schwarzenegger, who opposes Proposition 82, has proposed spending $50 million next year as part of a phased-in program that would eventually commit $145 million annually to the preschool project. That might seem puny compared with the $2 billion-plus envisioned by Proposition 82, the measure placed on the ballot by Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his allies. But much of the money raised by the Reiner initiative would go to provide free Weston MA Preschool to children whose middle-class and wealthy families are paying for it now. The smaller amount proposed by the governor would go mostly to children from poor families who are not already enrolled. In fact, the targeted approach favored by Schwarzenegger might expand preschool to just as many 4-year-olds from poor families as the more broad-based program in Proposition 82 while spending less than one-tenth as much. Proposition 82 would raise taxes on individuals making $400,000 or more and couples earning $800,000 or more and use the money to offer free, voluntary preschool to every 4-year-old in California. The schools receiving the money would have to follow state standards and hire at least one fully credentialed teacher and a college-educated aide for every 20 students. But an estimated 60 percent to 65 percent of California 4-year-olds already attend preschool. And studies show that even if Proposition 82 passes, only 70 percent of 4- year-olds are likely to attend the public preschools the program would create. Another 10 percent would attend private programs. According to research by the Rand Corp. analyzed by Bruce Fuller, an education and public policy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Proposition 82 would likely add to the preschool rolls about 57,000 4-year-olds who do not attend now. About 31,000 of those children would be in the upper half of the family income distribution. The other 26,000 would be from lower-income families. The Schwarzenegger proposal, by contrast, is aimed at 43,000 4- year-olds who live in attendance areas served by schools ranked in the bottom 30 percent on Californias academic performance index. It would offer half-day preschool to all those children, either at a school site or nearby. The governors proposal also includes $50 million for the construction of more preschool space and would provide training for preschool teachers and funds to encourage immigrant parents to learn to speak English. His aides say it is part of a comprehensive approach to ensure that poor and immigrant children join the education mainstream. Fuller, who has been an outspoken skeptic of Proposition 82, noted the political irony in a comparison of the two approaches. Schwarzeneggers method seeks to help the children who studies have shown benefit most from preschool: those from low-income, working- poor families or children who are not yet fluent in English. Reiners initiative, meanwhile, would take from the very rich and then subsidize preschool for the almost rich, Fuller said. The governors approach is more cost-effective, since we know empirically that its children from poor and lower middle-class families who benefit most from quality preschool, he said. These families suffer acutely from unaffordable preschool options. To be fair, the Reiner initiative would also help poor children gain access to preschool. And it would do so in a way that its advocates say would make it more likely that these children would mix with the children of more affluent families, or at least benefit from the same kind of programs offered to those families. But to accomplish that, Proposition 82 proposes to spend more than 10 times as much, using tax revenue that might be needed to close the persistent gap between the states projected revenues and spending. Making public policy is all about making choices. Just about every new program can be made to sound good in isolation, if you consider only the good it might do. But a complete analysis must also consider what you have to give up to get the thing that sounds so good. In the case of Proposition 82, California would be giving up a couple of billion dollars a year that would otherwise be left alone to generate economic growth or be collected in taxes to provide services that are a higher priority than subsidizing preschool for the children of well-off families who are already paying for it themselves. Schwarzeneggers leaner proposal offers voters concerned about Proposition 82 a sensible alternative. Daniel Weintraub writes for the Sacramento Bee.
Related Articles -
preschool developmental milestones, concord ma co op preschool, leap preschool lexington ma, weston ma public preschool, preschool art,
| 
