Schlafly: Preschool Promises Don’t Add UP

by Phyllis Schlafly

The political momentum behind establishing preschool programs is tremendous, but existing programs and proposals are both ineffective and very expensive. Preschool can provide small short-term gains for low-income children who don’t have two parents in the home, but these gains fade very quickly and become insignificant even in later primary grades. There simply is little evidence to support the belief that large-scale government preschool programs can do the job of improving long-term student outcomes.

Nevertheless, many states have already instituted pre-Kindergarten programs, and many or are committed to doing so. 38 states now fund preschool for more than a million children. More than 30 governors have called for additional preschool funding. Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida now offer preschool for all four-year-olds; Illinois, New York and West Virginia have multi-year plans to eventually offer preschool for all four-year-olds; and California, New Jersey and Kansas have targeted preschool initiatives for low-income children. President Obama has declared his intention to “give all Americans a complete and competitive education from the cradle up through a career,” and is about to spend $5 billion on these projects.

Since there are so many preschool programs already in use, why don’t we see good results, better test scores as the kids who have had preschool advantages move along in school, and higher graduation rates? The answer is, we don’t. The good results that some brag about are very limited high-cost programs that involved intensive individualized education and social intervention from infancy through age five, often including home visitations in addition to preschool, something that is not practical for very many children.

I suggest that parents skip preschool and teach their children to read at home using my First Reader system.

Audio version of this commentary.

Moral Liberal contributing editor, Phyllis Schlafly, is the founder and president of Eagle Forum, a syndicated writer, bestselling author, and radio show host.

Used with the permission of Phyllis Schlafly and Eagle Forum.