Universal Preschool (Clark's education plan)

[robbedvoter]

Universal Preschool
http://clark04.com/story/37/
Wednesday, while visiting the Rochester Child Care Center, Wes Clark introduced his Universal Preschool Plan to invest $70 billion in early childhood education so that every American gets a fair start in life.

"Early education helps kids do better as adolescents and earn higher wages as adults. But many children still have no access to preschool preparation," Clark explained. "Universal preschool will reduce the preparation gap and prepare children to succeed in school."

For example, in New Hampshire today, fewer than 2,000 children benefit from Head Start programs and New Hampshire does not provide any state preschool programs. Meanwhile, pre-kindergarten education costs more than the tuition at New Hampshire's public universities. According to one study, 35 percent of New Hampshire's children enter school without adequate preparation.

"I believe that all of New Hampshire's children and all of America's children deserve a fair start," Clark said. "But by the time they enter school, too many children are already far behind. It is unfair that so few poor children benefit from preschool and so many middle-class families struggle with the costs of early childhood education. We can do better."

Clark's plan will offer universal preschool access for all 4-year-olds and a growing number of 3-year-olds whose families want it. Investing $50 billion in state grants over ten years will spark state innovation and allow states the flexibility to innovate.

The proposal will also improve preschool standards and quality. States accepting grants will be required to phase in school readiness standards based on the latest scientific research.

The initiative will strengthen the federal commitment to Head Start programs. Clark will invest $20 billion over ten years to increase Head Start participants to 1 million and improve the quality of learning.

"Next month, my daughter-in-law is going to give birth. Like any grandparent, you can be sure that I will do everything I can to ensure that my grandchild gets the best start possible in life," Clark said. "You can be equally sure that I will make sure that every American child gets an equally good start. Making the right choices for our nation's children is what my vision of New American Patriotism is all about. Universal Preschool is the right choice for America."

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Early intervention

will help a great deal in making sure that children get a good start in life. I think that bolstering Head Start is good, but am not so sure about starting another whole program. Head Start has been successful in the past. If one wants to expand it so that it is more inclusive, that's ok. But I am very very leery of tests, because tests don't teach-teachers and the children's own experience teaches. Not all kids can take tests, either, but that doesn't mean that they aren't bright and able to do things. Once I had a brilliant boy in my fourth grade class who got zeros on standardized tests because he had a perception problem, and couldn't coordinate hand/eyes to the fine level of coloring in the right circle on the right line of a test. The school wouldn't let him tell someone the answers so they could mark them down, or use any kind of physical aid to keep things straight. He was put down as a dunce simply because of a test result, not because of his classroom participation and obvious verbal intelligence. The parents moved to another state, and in a letter, told the school that their son was in a school for gifted and talented, and was well on his way in science, his favored subject. Unless schools are flexible and governments get off the testing testing testing bandwagon, children will not get educated-they'll just learn how to pass tests, not how to live life.

[Boo Boo]

2. Seems like you and the General might be...

pretty much on the same page. Here's an excerpt from an interview Clark gave with Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo:

CLARK: ... For example, take the idea of competition in schools. OK now, what is competition in schools? What does it really mean? Well, competition in business means you have somebody who's in a business that has a profit motive in it. It's measured every quarter. If the business doesn't keep up, the business is going to lose revenue, therefore it has an incentive to restructure, reorganize, re-plan, re-compete and stay in business.

Schools aren't businesses. Schools are institutions of public service. Their job--their product--is not measured in terms of revenues gained. It's measured in terms of young lives whose potential can be realized. And you don't measure that either in terms of popularity of the school, or in terms of the standardized test scores in the school. You measure it child-by-child, in the interaction of the child with the teacher, the parent with the teacher, and the child in a larger environment later on in life.

So when people say that competition is-this is sort of sloganeering, "Hey, you know, schools need this competition." No. I've challenged people: Tell me why it is that competition would improve a school. Most of them can't explain it. It's just like, "Well, competition improves everything so therefore it must improve schools."

If you want to improve schools, you've got to go inside the processes that make a school great. You've got to look at the teachers, their qualifications, their motivation, what it is that gives a teacher satisfaction, what it is a teacher wants to do in a classroom. We've got to empower teachers. Give them an opportunity to lead in the classroom. Teachers are the most important leaders in America. All that is lost in the sloganeering of this party. And the American people know it's lost. So you asked me to give you one thing about this party that's in power -- it's the sort of doctrinaire ideology that doesn't really understand the country that we're living in.

Published by Talkingpointsmemo.com
Copyright 2003 Joshua Micah Marshall. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

[Boo Boo]

3. Oh, BTW...

That was my first post! I'm just a baby!!

:-)

[maddezmom]

4. Welcome to DU!

[newyawker99]

7. Hi Boo Boo!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Justice]

5. Clark Gets It

On all levels. Thanks for the post.

[Boo Boo]

6. Hello there, Robbed...

Here's a little bump for ya!

[wheresthemind]

8. Dennis has been there on this issue long before Clark was...

In the 107th and 108th Congresses, Kucinich introduced the Universal Pre-Kindergarten Act, a bill to create a free, universal, and voluntary pre-kindergarten program for 3-5 year old children across the county. Universal pre-kindergarten would revolutionize America's commitment to early childhood education and change the nature of child care provision for the better. The cost of this program is $60 billion per year, which Kucinich plans to pay for by cutting the bloated Pentagon budget by 15 percent.

Pre-kindergarten programs prepare children to meet the challenges of school. Studies show that young children who have access to a quality education benefit with higher academic achievements, increased graduation rates and decreased juvenile delinquency. Nationwide there's a severe shortage of affordable, quality education programs. By providing universal pre-kindergarten, we are ensuring that all of our children are ready for school.

The Universal Pre-Kindergarten Act will provide funding to states to establish universal pre-kindergarten programs that build on existing federal and state pre-kindergarten initiatives. The program is voluntary and will be available free-of-charge to all families who choose to participate. The legislation requires pre-kindergarten programs to meet quality standards of early education and provides resources for the professional development of teachers.

http://www.kucinich.us/issues/education.php

[Cheswick2.0]

9. I may become a Clark supporter soon

I am not giving it up easily for any of the candidates. I like Carols healthcare plan better than anyone elses. No one will convince me that Gore shouldn't be president.... but lately Clark has been saying the things I want to hear. If I can be convinced that he is sincere and not just playing to the primary voters then he will probably be my candidate.
Now if things turned around and Carol was in the double digits she would get my vote. But barring that....if I must vote for another white guy who is not Gore, Clark may well be that person.

[Zhade]

10. Kucinich had this idea long before Clark.

NT!