No, it really is forcibly removing the child from the home to make him a good servant of THE STATE.
Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.
-- Vladimir Lenin
Yeah some give theirs up for 12 and sometimes 16.
“Pre-K” is a multifaceted agenda.
It is, as you say, a way of “getting the kids early”.
But it is also a pander to and promotion of working and/or “single” moms.
They want to make it easier to be a “single mom” in order to secure this ever increasing voting block,
and also to make it a less undesirable condition, incentivizing yet MORE “single moms”.
That's how I see it. In my post-retirement Adventures in Urban Substitute Teaching, I very occasionally went to Head Start preschool classes. First myth busted....the program, toys, educational materials, activities, are beyond belief. The kids also have specialists evaluating special needs, providing music, art, and phys ed, and get two meals plus two healthy snacks. They get toothbrushing lessons! Still in diapers....toilet training. The kids are overwhelmed with a very full schedule of learning, team/group activities, and educational playtime. The ones I was in, the parents actually rebelled and took them home after lunch for down time and to be able to schedule the naps when the children actually wanted to rest. The day is scheduled down to the minute, and keeping the schedule is actually upsetting to some kids.
It's a harder day to teach than is advanced HS math. And what's the point? Well, the kids are in a situation where the state replaces the parent. And the parents don't all want it....it's a requirement for those collecting benefits.
You'll never get rid of it. There's an elitist myth that poor people can't or won't take care of their own children. So the state is in effect doing what communist countries used to do....forcibly taking over raising them.
JMHO