The omnibus 1,582 page appropriations bill includes increased funding for Head Start and Early Head Start by $612 million, to $8.6 billion. This administration and those before it have studied this program carefully with the same results--it doesn't work. The 2012 study found little to no impact on cognitive, social-emotional, health, or parenting practices of participants. So why continue to fund it? What politician of either party could risk the backlash?
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/03/universal-preschools-empty-promises
Even though 74% of American 4 year olds are already in pre-school, Obama thinks the government needs to expand even more into this area and crowd out private and church programs, which will probably be declared "substandard" the way he did with health insurance which over 80% were satisfied with. Maybe he can reduce the gap between rich and poor by making all preschools perform like Head Start?
"The Columbus school district says it will find a way to expand pre-kindergarten even without the money that a levy would’ve raised." Columbus Dispatch Nov. 28, 2013. Professional educators are a powerful lobby for early childhood education--follow the money. Pre-schools have a patch work of standards by city and state for buildings, curricula, teachers, aides, safety, play time, unions--I mean, can you see the economic opportunities here for colleges of education, the building trades, the regulatory agencies?
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