Not Today, Pre-K
Critical Analysis
According to the visual above, how many states offer universal pre-K (free for every four year old kid in the state) programs?
Describe any geographical patterns in universal pre-K programs in the United States.
What type of pre-K programs does your state offer?
How does the visual above illustrate the concept of federalism?
California is in the middle of implementing a plan that will create a free, universal pre-K program (known as transitional kindergarten) for every 4-year-old in the state by the 2025-2026 school year. It sounds like a big, blue (Democratic) state priority, but it’s also a red (Republican) state one. California will join states like West Virginia, Alabama and Oklahoma in aiming to provide universal preschool programs that serve all of their states’ 4-year-olds. How do you explain the embrace of pre-K programs by both liberal and conservative states?
Both parties seem to agree that spending money to educate young children is a worthwhile mission, and there’s plenty of evidence that it is. Pre-K is a sound investment. Studies have shown that the return on investment for high-quality pre-K programs can be as high as 13 percent, with positive economic and educational outcomes that are multi-generational. A Center for American Progress analysis demonstrated that the United States would see a net benefit of $83.3 billion for each annual cohort of 4-year-olds enrolled in high-quality pre-K and currently experiences a net cost of inaction of $56.2 billion for each year that universal state pre-K is not provided. Yet national plans for preschool programs have stalled in Congress. So, governors and state legislatures are taking the lead. During the current legislative term, at least 14 states are discussing preschool expansion. Based on this information and the data from the visual below at right* make a claim about whether you would support government funding for pre-K programs?
Robert Yates, probable author of Brutus 1, the Anti-Federalist manifesto, was concerned about a tyrannical government taking away the rights of states and individuals. Make a claim about whether an Anti-Federalist about would support federal government support for universal pre-K programs.
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously described states as “laboratories of democracy.” in his opinion in New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann to describe how "a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." Explain how the 10th Amendment allows states to be laboratories of democracy?
They say that federalism allows people to “vote with their feet.” If you were the parent of a fou year old living in Sioux Falls, South Dakota your child would have no access to free public pre-K education, but if you moved, just across the border to Larchwood, Iowa, your four year old would get free public pre-K education. Make a claim about how likely policies like these are to influence people to move across state lines?
Explain the connection between the lack of universal pre-K programs in the United States and the data from the visual below at left*?
Learning Extension
Check out the FiveThirtyEight Report on universal pre-K programs.
Action Extension
Contact a member of your state legislature and ask them if support universal pre-K programs for your state.