An interesting article underscoring the need for universal pre-K education and providing insight into what it really means to fix the currently broken public education system:
With respect to early childhood education, a number of policy considerations come to mind. For example:
What does the research show regarding the effectiveness of early childhood education programs
What problems have existing early childhood education programs encountered (see Head Start) and how if at all will those problems be addressed with the new programs being proposed
Where will the money for these programs come from and how will those funds be utilized efficiently
What roles will federal, state, and local government play in the implementation of these programs (it has been suggested that the federal government's role will be only to fund, leaving it to the states to expand existing programs/create new programs)
What kind of *quality control* will there be to insure that the individuals instructing our preschool children possess the appropriate credentials and experience to do so
What systems will be in place for assessing the results of these programs in the future
Some of these policy considerations and others are discussed in the following op-ed (you can skip over the liberal overtones):
It seems that early child education programs have been pilot tested in some states already. However, more information is needed regarding their long-term effectiveness.