In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama unveiled his plan for universal Pre-K or pre-kindergarten education for four-year-olds. His plan would guarantee children whose household income is at or below 200% of the poverty line a free pre-K education with local schools and local partners, and their teachers would have the same training as K-12 teachers. In addition, the programs would offer many of the benefits of private school pre-kindergarten programs, including small class sizes, high adult-to-child ratios, and assessment of the programs provided. The program would also expand the number of full-day kindergarten programs available.
Why Pre-Kindergarten is So Important
While many private schools offer high-quality pre-kindergarten programs and full-day kindergartens, providing enriching educational opportunities for children under age 6, many children who attend public schools, particularly children living in poverty, do not have access to these programs. According to the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) in New Brunswick, New Jersey, 28% of 4-year-olds were enrolled in a pre-kindergarten program in the 2011-2012 school year, which represents an increase over the 14% of four-year-olds who did so in 2002. Yet, pre-kindergarten programs are critical to children’s long-term success, and experts at NIEER have documented that children who have been enrolled in high-quality pre-kindergarten programs enter kindergarten with better vocabularies and more advanced pre-reading and math skills than children who don’t have access to these programs.
Children enrolled in pre-k programs aren’t just learning how to recognize letters and numbers; they are also learning critical social skills and the importance of working independently in the classroom. Through high-quality pre-k programs, they develop the confidence to take on more advanced classroom work. Many children struggle with social skills and behavioral problems in kindergarten, and many children are even kicked out of kindergarten. Pre-kindergarten programs are essential in teaching children the social skills they need for later grades, not just the academic skills.
Pre-K Benefits Last a Lifetime
The benefits of pre-kindergarten education last well beyond kindergarten. According to research conducted by NIEER, there are amazing long-term economic benefits from early childhood education for children. For example, life-time earnings of some children increase by hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the economic benefits of these programs outweigh the costs by a factor of up to 16 (in some programs). In addition, such programs show that participants have lower crime rates and decreased rates of welfare dependence as adults, so the benefits of early childhood education can last a lifetime.
According to the White House Fact Sheet on Obama’s educational plan, children from low-income families are less likely to have access to pre-kindergarten programs, and middle-class families also struggle to afford private pre-school programs, yet these programs are critical to children’s long-term school success. Children from low-income families who are not reading at grade level by third grade are six times less likely to graduate from high school. According to the Fact Sheet from the White House, only 60% of American children have access to full-day kindergarten programs, yet these programs are also essential to teaching children skills critical skills for later academic success.
Pre-kindergarten programs are a promising way to reduce adult poverty in this country and to provide the essential skills workers need as adults. Working with at-risk children in the primary or middle school years may be too late, and while private schools offer high-quality pre-school and early education programs, research studies have documented the need to expand these programs to state-funded programs across the country.
