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BETWEEN THE LINES: The First Step To Fixing Public Education: Saying Yes to Preschool Preparation
Great debates will take place over the next few years as to how best to fix a broken public education system. Public education is broken (but not broke [financially]) at all levels; from intra-structure (lack of school buildings), to teachers (lack of them, and underpayment of them), to failing students (all-time high dropout and illiteracy rates).
The state of public education in Los Angeles recently caused Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to say, that LAUSD students were having their civil rights violated, though public education is not a right (it should be, and Jesse Jackson, Jr. has called for a Constitutional Amendment)-it's a privilege.
A privilege extended to every child, and their families can take advantage of it, or not. The point is that not having a decent education is the biggest threat to American society. It's a threat to the nation human capital investment (human capital being the biggest factor in national productivity and technological advancement). It's a threat to civility, the intellectual divide being the biggest contributor to the class (wage) divide. And the assaults on society that seem from ignorance is a violation of our civil rights.
The divestment in education, particularly in teachers, cannot be rationalized (in simple terms) other than the back and forth questions of school overcrowding and on teacher preparation (and testing). However, we know what works for student preparation, yet society seems hesitate in making the necessary investment that would make it easier to fix K-12 education. Research tells us that pre-school, irrespective of the child's background, prepares a child for a life long commitment to education in greater proportion than any other segment of the population. Simply put, pre-school works. Every child should have the opportunity to go to pre-school. So what's the problem?
Pre-school is not available to every child. Nearly every pre-school in California has a waiting list. Meanwhile, children sit at home, or in some day care center while their young brains go to waste. Ninety percent of a children mental and intellectual development takes place prior to the age of five-the entry age for Kindergarten. So what, you say? Well, currently in California, 50% of all fourth graders are falling basic reading standard. This, of course, puts the child at a learning disadvantage that only widens as the child gets older. By the time the child reaches eighth grade, if they're not reading at a fourth grade level, they're most likely not to finish high school. The children most disproportionately impacted by the lack of pre-schools are poor children of color (Blacks and Latinos). Both of whom have high school drop-outs exceeding 50%. However, children who at pre-school, particularly a quality, are reading (most likely) by the third grade and a higher probability of advancing in their educational experience, least likely to be held back, placed in "special education" (which we know is the trap for hyper-active black males to be tracked and dumbed down), and thus, are more likely to take school seriously, finish high school, go to college and lead productive lives. Moreover, pre-school on the front end, is seen as a key link in closing the achievement gap between minority and white students that can't seem to be closed on the back end.
I really don't believe that public education can continue to ignore those things that work, in terms of providing some advantage to underserved communities and their underfunded schools. Every community you go into is talking about the deficiencies of public schools. Parents are blaming administrators and teachers, administrators are blaming parents and teachers, and teachers, of course, are blaming administrators for not giving them enough to teach (including classroom space and supplies) and parents for not preparing their children at home. It's a vicious circle. But one thing that Teachers Unions, Administrator Groups, the proto-type model for every education, the Head Start Association, and Parent advocacy groups like "Say Yes To Children," agree upon is that funding more pre-schools, giving more early education preparation to more children, could be the first step to fixing public education. There will be a ballot initiative coming forth in June that will make it possible to provide high quality, voluntary pre-school education for every four-year old in California without taking a dime for K-12 education. Moreover, this expansion will be funded by those that have the most to lose by an uneducated, illiterate work force, those 1.7% of California families with incomes above $800,000 and individual incomes of $400,000. It will have no cost of 99.4% of California taxpayers. It's being headed by actor/director/ activist Rob Reiner, and is following a national trend that is already up in Florida Georgia and Oklahoma, and is being considered in New York and other states.
It just might be time for California, who ranks 45th in the nation in reading (and 47th in education spending), to take a clue from others are doing to fix their public education system. It might be a program worth paying attention to. Californians should take a close look at Proposition 82, the Preschool for All Initiative. It's time to stop complaining about public education, and either fix it (or get out of it). If we can't fix the broken the public education system, we can, at least, fix the child before they go into a broken system. It just might be the first step to fixing the system itself. Pre-schools work. It's proven. Why not build on what works for a change? Think about it.
Anthony Asadullah Samad is a national columnist, managing director of the Urban Issues Forum and author of 50 Years After Brown: The State of Black Equality In America (Kabili Press, 2005). He can be reached at www.AnthonySamad.com
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