Just as in Canada, there is a push by many on the political Left to implement some sort of universal preschool program. A Heritage Foundation backgrounder points out why it is unnecessary:
The ultimate goal of the myriad early education bills is to guarantee access to publicly subsidized preschool for all families. Universal preschool provides taxpayer-subsidized preschool to all children free of charge regardless of parents’ income. Proponents argue that universal preschool is necessary to ensure that all children are able to attend preschool. But statistics show that most American children already have access to preschool: More than 80 percent of four-year-old children are enrolled in a preschool program; enrollment of three-year-olds and four-year-olds has increased fivefold since 1964. Moreover, the federal government already provides preschool subsidies to low-income children through the Head Start program and other initiatives–turning another benefit for universal preschool into a new subsidy for middle-class and upper-income children.
Taking all that into account and considering that widespread daycare/preschool is of dubious benefit, why would the Left push this idea? The only answers that come to mind is that progressives have a deeply held belief that the state, not families, are primarily responsible for the upbringing of children or that they desire the opportunity to get their hands on children at ever younger ages to influence them. I hate to question the motives of people promoting this policy or that, but considering that the facts align so strongly against universal preschool, such speculation cannot be helped.
We wrote about universal daycare being both bad policy and bad politics last month.
