Posted on 06/07/2005 12:45:33 AM PDT by calcowgirl
The value of universal preschool is one of those unquestioned nostrums sweeping the country. The way the question is framed for the public isn't whether we should love universal preschool, it's solely whether we'll pay for it. Now Rob Reiner actor, director, gadfly is planning an initiative for the June 2006 ballot. He wants to raise $2.3 billion a year by taxing the well-off and establishing a free, voluntary half-day preschool system for all 4-year-olds in California.
More affordable preschool is a great idea. Preschool can help children learn to play nice, identify colors, get used to the taste of finger-paint and even listen to the teacher occasionally.
But universal preschool isn't simply "more preschool" or "more affordable preschool." It's a species unto itself. Reiner's initiative would create standardization where now there is parental choice. It would insist on bachelor's degrees and credentials for teachers and require, insanely, that they be paid on par with high school science and math teachers, though there's little evidence that the education or expense is necessary. It would not raise test scores. And it would almost certainly push more and more academic work into the laps of younger and younger children.
Reiner's preschool utopia would force the state to set "content standards." and take oversight on such matters as whether to read "Pet the Bunny" or "Goodnight Moon" away from parents and preschools and hand it to education officials.
Parents now choose from a patchwork of public, private, church and family preschools. These reflect the wildly varying interests and needs of children and their families. There are academically oriented preschools and old-time nursery schools. . . . And they're efficient: Many an excellent preschool costs far less than the $5,900 or so per child the Reiner initiative would spend.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Yet more Meathead Taxes.
And just how many languages would be needed in s. Cal.? Six, eight, twenty? English only would never fly.
Call me a cynic when it comes to public (socialist) education, but I smell homosexual agenda, or at least anti-American liberal left.
Beaurocrat power grab ping
Some years ago Reiner pushed an initiative that would have set up a full-day government pre-school, and would have required all children to attend.
He did succeed in setting up the mechanism to pay for it. I wonder what's happened to all the money raised by the tax in the years since"
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Back in the day, I didn't even have kindergarten. Went directly into the first grade at 6 years old.
How did I ever make it? Just luck I guess.
Rob Reiner should mind his own damn business! If he wants to open a preschool he should PAY FOR IT! Don't these so-called stars have anything in their lives worth taking care of instead of sticking their noses in someone else's business?!
I suggest reading the third chapter of Brave New World, and taking particular note of the nap time with the little speakers under the pillows whispering the mantra of the State until the child believes only what the State wishes her to believe.
We're having the same pressure here in Canada, but here it's being presented as a 'right' as parents have no responsibility after giving birth -- it's the State that ought to raise their children.
That is what scares me most...one that requires the children to attend. No parental choice or interference. Then they will train them to love govt. and hate individualism.
Where is Archie when we need him?
ping
How stupid are people? Don't they understand that their children are being taken from them? Obviously they don't but later they'll look back and wonder how it all happened. No child should be in other than parental care before the age of six. I'd rather pay for the momma or poppa to stay at home than fund the "educational" system that will destroy our country if they continue to get their grubby hands on the children.
Boy are we are the same page!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
He did succeed in setting up the mechanism to pay for it. I wonder what's happened to all the money raised by the tax in the years since"
He has never had to account for those $$$$$$$$$ And the funding came from an increased cigarette tax.
The problem is that bright, affluent parents are already reading to their children and the kids already know their alphabet and how to count. Low SES parents are not reading and not teaching them skills they'll need. When first grade comes around the poor kids learn on day one that they're already hopelessly behind.
You are so right! I have worked in the preschool environment for years, as a teacher and as a trainer/monitor of preschools. Seeing the conditions these centers were in, the lack of training of the teachers, etc. was appalling. Even if you have a teacher who truly cares for the children, she has more than one charge to tend to. So the childs needs are not immediately met. Also, you don't have a parent's guidance, so discpipline for the child is not up to par. Of course, you have a few cases where the child is better off with the center than with their own parents, but that is a low percentage. After seeing all of these things and how little time the parents were able to spend with their own special treasures that God blessed them with, I determined I would be a stay at home mom. I have loved every minute of it!
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