Your Jan. 26 editorial regarding early childhood education is misguided. The reason children are unprepared for kindergarten is because the parents have failed to provide adequate education at home. My generation, the early Baby Boomers, did not have preschool, and somehow we thrived in school and in the workplace. Our parents took the time to teach us the alphabet, colors and numbers, and we were adequately prepared for kindergarten. To continually expand early childhood education and throw dollar upon the dollar into the system is the wrong answer. Using your logic, this same child will return to a home that does not take an active role in the child’s education, therefore in the early years of elementary school, the child will again fall behind because the parents have failed in the home.
Maybe the money should be spent teaching parents how to be parents, not forcing preschool teachers to have a bachelor’s degree (since when do we need a degree to teach the alphabet, colors and numbers?). With or without a bachelor’s degree, preschool teachers will provide no more of an education to children than their parents would be able to provide. Common sense seems to be lacking in this discussion and until the hard facts regarding inadequate parenting are addressed, the problems will persist.
Your comments regarding copious research showing “perhaps” the smartest public investment for the state is quality early childhood programs, can be changed to state “perhaps the smartest public investment for a state is to teach a parent how to be a parent and to take to responsibility and to be accountable for his or her child’s education.”
