Pre-KPalooza

Lots of action on the Pre-K front this week:

A new report from Pre-K Now summarizes state governors' preschool proposals for the 2007 fiscal year. Additional analysis from Stateline here, along with some coverage of the debate over Proposition 82, the California ballot initiative that would establish voluntary universal preschool in that state. Californians are scheduled to vote on Prop. 82 on June 6, and both proponents and opponents of the initiative are going into overdrive. On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times editorial page came out opposing Prop. 82, largely because of design flaws (I happen to share some of these concerns--particularly about bureacracy and requirements that preschool teachers obtain a special credential). And today the paper ran an op-ed by preschool researcher Art Reynolds arguing that Prop. 82 would be a wise public investment. Reynolds is not only the primary investigator for the Chicago Longitudinal Study, one of the most impressive studies finding positive impacts from large-scale preschool investments, but he's also an expert in cost-benefit analysis who has studied the returns to a variety of public investments in child health, education, and well-being, so his views on the subject are well-worth consideration.

If you really want to get a grip on this issue, though, I suggest you check out this website, created as part of the follow-up to a national conference on univeral preschool held at Berkeley earlier this spring. I was fortunate to be able to attend this conference, which featured as speakers many of the nation's leading thinkers on early childhood education and offered some of the most thoughtful discussion I've heard on this issue. You can watch streaming video of the presentations and discussions, or read research by participants at the website.


And stay tuned for an Education Sector online debate on the merits of universal preschool later this month.