Universal Preschool News
In this section, you'll find editorials, legislation, public policy and trends
on issues relating to preschool, pre-kindergarten, childcare and the push toward
universal preschool education. Particularly of note are articles concerning the
states claim of a compelling interest in compulsory preschool education. Visit
often for the latest preschool news.
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How Much Money Do Pediatricians Really Make From Vaccines?
If you want to be sure your pediatrician has your child's best interest, this is mandatory reading. Pediatricians around the country have begun refusing to accept families who opt out of some or all vaccines.
So how much money do doctors really make from vaccines? The average American pediatrician has 1546 patients, though some pediatricians see many more. The vast majority of those patients are very young, perhaps because children transition to a family physician or stop visiting the doctor at all as they grow up. As they table above explains, Blue Cross Blue Shield pays pediatricians $400 per fully vaccinated child. If your pediatrician has just 100 fully-vaccinated patients turning 2 this year, that's $40,000.
June 20, 2016
[More Results from wellnessandequality.com]
Head Start or Dead End?
The only "lasting impact" of the Head Start program is on taxpayers' wallets.
Those too-clever-for-words folks over at the Department of Health and Human Services have yet again tried to put one over on us. Using the oldest PR trick in the book, they released information to the media that they hoped no one would notice - on a Friday when people are too busy thinking about and planning their weekends. And because the report is very politically embarrassing, DHHS doubled down and went public on a Friday before a long holiday weekend. So right before Christmas, on Friday, December 21st, we were hit with the results of the third and final phase of the federal government's Head Start study. (Established by Lyndon Johnson in 1965, Head Start is the pet project of the early education crowd, which consists of spendaholic types aided, abetted and financed by the teachers unions, which love nothing more than expanding their roster of dues paying members. And President Obama is complicit member of this unholy alliance.)
by Larry Sand
January 2, 2013
[More Results from unionwatch.org]
Early kindergarten fails to take off
California's budget crisis may prevent local school districts from fully accommodating students who fall short of new kindergarten-age requirements, according to school administrators in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties.
Most elementary schools in Tuolumne County, and many in Calaveras County, are not planning to offer separate "transitional kindergarten" programs for students who turn 5 after Nov. 1. Previously, students who turned 5 before Dec. 2 could enter regular kindergarten classes. A state law enacted in 2010 will require schools to provide a modified, "developmentally appropriate" curriculum for students who are now too young for regular kindergarten.
by Margie Hiser
March 28, 2012
[More Results from uniondemocrat.com]
Pre K Scholars Launches New Website
Pre K Scholars has adopted a strategy that focuses on homeschoolers, parents of 3-5 year olds and preschool and kindergarten teachers seeking primary and supplemental classroom materials.
Pre K Scholars began in 2008 with its Teacher Kit, a comprehensive preschool curriculum with supporting instructional materials in a box that initially sold for $800.. Its target was a former teacher turned stay at home mom who would like to teach kindergarten readiness in her home. "We built the website to support that strategy. We offered signup sheets for classes and even allowed teachers to have their own webpages within our website," reflected Schwary.
March 1, 2012
[More Results from timesunion.com]
Universal preschool hasn't delivered results
Early education advocates want you to believe that the case for universal preschool is so airtight that raising any questions about it is an act of heresy.
But there is a strong and growing body of literature showing that preschool produces virtually no lasting benefits for the majority of kids. The Reason Foundation condensed most of the research and opinions that point to the disadvantages of warehousing preschoolers into one succinct article. It's a great piece to forward or print out and pass along.
by Shikha Dalmia and Lisa Snell
October 17, 2008
[More Results from San Francisco Chronicle]
Slate of four challengers battle four incumbents over preschool plan
School board races are not often one-issue fights. Typically, candidates tend to quarrel over a combination of issues, including educational ideologies, funding priorities and labor relations.
But the battle for four of five seats on the Soquel Union Elementary School District board -- one that could completely reshape the panel -- will turn, for the most part, on a single, long-smoldering controversy: Whether to build a preschool at Jade Street Park.
by J.M. Brown
October 9, 2008
[More Results from San Jose Mercury News]
Tangle of Funds Perplexes Preschool Providers
Funding for California preschool programs is dizzyingly complex, with money flowing from numerous state grants, each with their own restrictions, requirements and a mountain of paperwork.
Preschool providers find it logistically difficult to weave different funds together, a recognized way to create income-integrated preschools like Poway Unified's, which delivers services to kids across the economic spectrum.
by Emily Alpert
March 28, 2008
[More Results from Voice of San Diego (CA)]
Plug of war
Conversations on the ins and outs of pacifiers can get contentious The pacifier. Despite its name, the small plastic plug seems to rile up controversy rather than calm it.
Aside from breast-feeding and circumcision, few other topics can get parents, grandparents, pediatricians and child experts so stirred up that a timeout may be in order.
by Jennifer Davies
May 19, 2007
[More Results from The Union Tribune (CA)]
Lawmakers quietly considering universal preschool
After California's voters last June defeated a $2.3 billion universal preschool initiative, Proposition 82, the issue of early education seemed dead. But reports of its demise have proved premature.
The debate over how much to spend on pre-K and for which kids is now in the hands of the state politicians, and the issue will resurface this week when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger releases his revised 2008 budget.
by David L. Kirp
May 7, 2007
[More Results from San Jose Mercury News (CA)]
Proposition 82 / Preschool supporters aren't giving up on their quest
Preschool advocates plan to continue fighting to increase quality and expand access to preschool, they said Wednesday, despite the resounding defeat of Proposition 82.
In 13 counties, including San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Los Angeles, advocates already are implementing publicly funded preschool, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed $100 million in next year's budget to increase preschool opportunities for 4-year-olds from low-income families. "We're in this for the long haul ... and we'll work locally and at the state level," said Maryann O'Sullivan, founder of Preschool California, an advocacy group. "People are very committed and saying we need another strategy."
by Janine DeFao
June 8, 2006
[More Results from San Francisco Chronicle (CA)]
Voters reject Prop. 82
California voters soundly rejected Proposition 82 on Tuesday, crushing the hopes of early-childhood education advocates who hoped to make universal preschool public policy in the nation's most populous state.
Though Proposition 82 enjoyed support in staunchly liberal enclaves like San Francisco, it was overwhelmingly rejected in the Central Valley, Orange County and other parts of the state. Reiner and his campaign aides overestimated the breadth of their support -- and misjudged the depth of the opposition's.
by Dana Hull
June 7, 2006
[More Results from The Mercury News (CA)]
Voters reject Prop. 82
California voters soundly rejected Proposition 82 Tuesday, crushing the hopes of early childhood education advocates who hoped to make universal preschool public policy in the nation's most populous state.
Throughout much of the evening, returns showed that 60 percent of voters statewide opposed Prop. 82 while just 40 percent supported it, making it nearly impossible for the measure to ever get the simple majority it needed to pass.
"It doesn't look good," admitted Hollywood director Rob Reiner, who spoke to about 200 supporters at a Los Angeles hotel ballroom shortly after 10 p.m. But he vowed to fight on, saying that the push for universal preschool would not go away. "This is important, and if it is not today the train has left the station."
by Dana Hull
June 7, 2006
[More Results from The Mercury News (CA)]
Prop 82: No, no, no
If ever a political matter illustrated the proverbial wisdom that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, it is Proposition 82.
Rob Reiner's "free preschool for all" initiative stems from the filmmaker-activist's sincere concern that many poor children's lack of early intellectual development dooms them to substandard lives. But Reiner came to believe his altruism was all that mattered - that in pursuing his crusade, he had no responsibility to forge wise public policy or to behave in ethical fashion.
June 5, 2006
[More Results from The San Diego Union-Tribune (CA)]
Preschool for All by Tricia Shore
The California crowd, a generally insecure lot who so worries their pretty heads about whether their infant is reading a Baby Einstein flashcard more quickly than their neighbor's, tends to take preschool pretty darn seriously.
Private preschools and kindergartens and such can run you $20,000 per year easily. You are often judged as a parent based on your child's preschool. Yes, the preschool. People have every right to do this, of course. I've heard many moms tell me that they dropped their three-year-old off at preschool with the little one crying for mommy not to leave. "But I had to," one mother dramatically said, "It's for his own good!" At three' That particular mother spoke two languages and yet, she evidently found it beyond her reach to think about teaching her own child the alphabet of either language. Or anything else.
by Tricia Shore
June 5, 2006
[More Results from LewRockwell (CA)]
Preschool plan not for all
Gov. Rod Blagojevich's landmark "Preschool for All Children" initiative won't give all children access to free preschool after all, at least in the short run.
Although any family could apply, the program approved by the Illinois House and Senate on Thursday gives first priority to children at risk of failing in school, and then to working families that meet income guidelines--restrictions not part of so-called universal preschool programs offered elsewhere.
by Diane Rado
May 5, 2006
[More Results from Chicago Tribune (IL)]
Ohio Infant & Toddler Guidelines Unveiled
COLUMBUS -- A leadership team of private and public organizations this week unveiled developmental guidelines for Ohio's youngest children, from birth to age three.
The "birth announcement" was held at COSI in Columbus and included remarks by Ohio First Lady Hope Taft. Designed to assist parents, providers and policy makers, the Guidelines include the following developmental domains and include best practices in the areas of: health, emotional, social, motor, language/communication and cognitive.
by Alicia Leatherman
March 12, 2006
[More Results from PR Newswire (CA)]
The Reiner rip-off: Taxpayer-funded push for initiative reeks
It's hard to fathom how a Hollywood actor-director-activist with a reputation for caring about children could make the transition to sleazy pol so quickly, but that's just what Rob Reiner has done.
His role in orchestrating the use of millions in taxpayer money to push his latest cause is beyond slimy and way past arrogant... There's talk of seeking a state Fair Political Practices Commission investigation of this mess, but that doesn't go far enough. Attorney General Bill Lockyer, come on down. A slap on the wrist is not sufficient. The use of $23 million in public funds for a personal crusade merits a criminal investigation.
February 23, 2006
[More Results from The San Diego Union-Tribune (CA)]
Doubts cast on preschool proposal
Under attack from political opponents, Gov. Rod Blagojevich acknowledged Sunday that it won't be easy to push through his proposal to create the most expansive state preschool program in the nation.
Nevertheless, "we will roll up our sleeves and we will fight," Blagojevich said in announcing his "Preschool for All" initiative, which would offer state-paid pre-kindergarten to all 3- and 4-year-olds, regardless of family income.
by Diane Rado and Rick Pearson
February 13, 2006
[More Results from Chicago Tribune]
Should California pay for preschool?
In June, Californians will vote on a proposal to offer three hours a day of free preschool to every 4-year-old in the state by 2010 -- paid for by a new tax on the state's highest-earning residents.
Proponents of Proposition 82, also known as the Preschool for All Act, say preschool is a sound investment, citing research showing that children who attend preschool are more likely to avoid repeating a grade, graduate from high school and steer clear of crime. Opponents say a new government-run preschool system is destined to be a costly bureaucratic disaster.
by Dana Hull
February 12, 2006
[More Results from The Mercury News (CA)]
CALIFORNIA / UC study examines preschool benefits / By third grade, no difference shown among students
As proponents of universal preschool in California kicked off their campaign with news of an upbeat poll, a study on the lasting effects of preschool indicates many of its benefits may wear off by the time students reach third grade.
The University of California study, parts of which will be released today at a Sacramento conference, focuses on non-English-speaking children who went to preschool. Students who had gone to preschool gained a head start on literacy and language skills that gave them a leg up through third grade, according to the study by UC Santa Barbara professor Russell Rumberger, director of the UC Linguistic Minority Research Institute.
by Ilene Lelchuk
January 28, 2006
[More Results from San Francisco Chronicle (CA)]
Backers: Child care plan could boost business, reduce crime
An effort to boost the quality of child care in Wyoming would not only be good for kids, it would be good for business and would reduce crime, supporters told lawmakers Monday.
"It's about economic development and work force development as well as child development," said Deanna Frey,director of the Wyoming Children's Action Alliance. A Wyoming Business Council executive as well as the head of the state corrections department were among those who lent their support to the bill at a meeting of the Joint Labor, Health and Social Services interim committee in Casper.
by Barbara Nordby
January 13, 2006
[More Results from Casper Star-Tribune (WY)]
Preschool funding plan on ballot
Friends and foes of Rob Reiner's "Preschool for All" initiative got word from the secretary of state's office late Thursday afternoon that the initiative has qualified for the June 2006 ballot.
The measure proposes taxing the state's wealthiest residents to provide a year of free preschool to California 4-year-olds. The issue promises to be one of the most heated of the coming election season.
by Dana Hull
January 13, 2006
[More Results from The Mercury News (CA)]
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