Clinton Wants Pre-K for All 4-Year-Olds

AP on Verizon Online ^ | 5/21/2007

[rightwingintelligentsia]

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is proposing a $10 billion federal program aimed at providing voluntary pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-old children in America. The Democratic presidential candidate planned to discuss the program in remarks Monday at North Beach Elementary School in Miami Beach, Fla.

Her campaign staff issued an outline of the plan in Washington.

It would provide federal funds to states that agree to establish a plan for making voluntary pre-kingergarten services universally available for all 4-year-olds.

They would be required to provide services at no cost to children from low-income families and those from "limited English homes."

The campaign said state spending on pre-kingergarten has increased by $1 billion in the last two years, yet the programs still serve less than 20 percent of 4-year-olds in the U.S.

Under the Clinton plan, states would match federal funds made available to them dollar-for-dollar and could use the assistance to expand their existing Head Start programs.

[avacado]

- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is proposing a $10 billion federal program

- It would provide federal funds to states that agree to establish a plan

- making... services universally available

- They would be required to provide services

- at no cost to children from low-income families and those from "limited English homes."

MARXISM 101

[Fawn]

Oh boy. I get to pay even more taxes for other peoples kids...yipppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[gondramB]

>>Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is proposing a $10 billion federal program aimed at providing voluntary pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-old children in America.

Isn’t that how it is now? Why throw money at it. We have all suffered the 400 monthly payments for day care school. So what. Pre-K is voluntary now and should stay that way.<<

Well.. I know folks who read my posts probably get tired about me talking about Georgia - but our state government has improved so much since 1990, I’m proud of it.

In Georgia, we fund pre-k with lottery money. Its still government funding but at least its voluntarily contributed instead of taxes.

We started with a pilot program of of 750 kids to see what works for the state and then fine tuned.

Some of the conclusions were to make it a school readiness program rather than focusing on babysitting to let the mothers work. We also didn’t want to destroy the private sector by subsidizing government run competition so we use existing private facilities wherever possible.

If, and only if the people of a state want to do something like this, doing it at the state level seems to the way to go. We already have enough over-reaching Federal bureaucracy and Federal taxes. (more than enough, of course, but that’s another thread.)

What if they set up a Federal program and the needs of Tennessee are different that the needs of Texas or Florida? What if the people of a state feel a pure private sector approach is better? Why should all the states be forced into a monolithic Federal mold?

[LantzALot]

Many 4 year olds arent ready for Pre-K.

Pushing these kids too fast only harms them.

You are exactly right. Their little bodies --- and minds --- haven't yet developed to the point where they are ready for a classroom environment.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I found it interesting that the head of the Boston schools, testifying before the Great and General Court (the Massacusetts Legislature), a few years back on the issue of preschool said that he got the impression that what the advocates sought was baby sitting services.

Needless to say that dog don’t hunt in the land of the cod and the bean, and he was soon looking for other employment.

[PacesPaines]

“Get them while they’re young, Evita. Get them while they’re young.”

[KenmcG414]

A typical RAT socialist program which will help bring the middle class into poverty.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The constitution does not guarantee free daycare.

Where did you get a troglodyte notion like that? Da Constitution, she gots all kindsa umbers and numbras, gives me anything dat I kins get outta da taxpayers.

[napscoordinator]

I would LOVE it to be at the state level and even better the local level. I think if they did it this way all the school districts would improve.

[gondramB]

I may be the only Freeper that religiously watched West Wing (or least admits it).

One of my very favorite exchanges was a debate between a Bartlett staffer, Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) and a Republican. Seaborn has just accused the Republicans of being against textbooks in schools and cited Kirkwood Oregon as a typical city that would be helped by the Democratic bill.

>> TV Moderator : "Ainsley Hayes, is that true?"
Ainsley : "No, it's not."
TV Moderator : "Is Sam Seaborn lying?"
Ainsley : "Lying's an awfully strong word... yes, he's lying. And we should tell the truth about education. The bill contained plenty of money for new textbooks - also, computer literacy, school safety, physical plant. The difference is we wanted to give the money directly to communities, and let them decide how best to spend it... on the off chance that the needs of Lincoln High in Dayton are different than the needs of Crenshaw High in South Central L.A."
...
Ainsley : "The bill contained plenty of money for textbooks, Mark, and anyone who says otherwise is flat-out lying. And we should tell the truth about this... textbooks are important, if for no other reason than they accurately place the town of Kirkwood in California and not in Oregon." <<

For some reason the blonde Republican beating up Rob Lowe in this scene reminds me of someone but I cant quite place her...

Ainsley Hayes

[Bob J]

Head Start has already been shown to be useless. So let’s dump another 10 billion on it.

[Bob J]

You got it. Hillary goes for the soccer mom vote with this one so they can get to their pilates class and then off to lunch and nice cappuccino. At the taxpayers expense.

There are private “pre-school” programs out there. Why aren’t people using them?