I am not advocating a publicly funded univeral pre-school program open to anyone as this article suggests. We are specifically advocating that quality pre-school programs be available to all children, but private pay programs would be critical in the mix. There are many high quality programs out there that parents pay for and really like. We do not need to “fix” these programs with government intervention and funding.

This article makes a very serious mis-statement, “Children who are not in pre-kindergarten programs cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars a year.” This is simply not true. Children being raised and taught by parents and family members and caring day-care providers do not cost the state a dime. These are children who show up to kindergarten ready and anxious to learn. These are children who don’t just graduate, they excel.

And the statement “We’re kidding ourselves that the first day kids are learning is when they are five years old” attributed to Judy Samuelson, is an insult to parents, family members and caring day care providers who know childrren are learning every minute of every day from the moment they are born. I hope this is a misquote. Just because a child is not enrolled in a government funded educational program does not mean they are not learning.

Thank you for seeking out the insights from Professor Besharov. As he says, Pre-school is just one component of what is needed.

The goal is clear. Children are most likely to succeed in school if they arrive at kindergarten “ready to learn”. How can we, as a community, work together to make sure every single child arrives “ready to learn”. The Great Start Collaborative model is excellent. It says there is a role for every constituency, importantly and especially, parents. The most powerful model is the one where parents are engaged and involved in the education of their children, from the day they are born, in communities that provide a variety of excellent educational resources from which parents can choose.