Universal Pre-K

President Obama’s proposal for providing a Universal Pre-K program may not be as effective as is expected to be. Obama urges for an early education initiative, relying on studies that show the sooner children begin learning, the better they do down the road. However, studies made have not demonstrated to provide lasting benefits for children who attend early childhood programs compared to those who do not. In theory, Obamas early education initiative is good, but if it is actually followed through, it may have counterproductive effects on education in general. As Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia said in an interview, “President Obama’s call is a great idea, but the government must find a way to pay for the program that would not add to the deficit or force taxpayers to foot the bill” (Gentile).

First of all, we should first look into the programs that states currently have such as Head start. We should look at what has been and has not been working in such programs.  Early education intervention is important, but creating new programs on top of those existing may weaken what we already have. There is also no guarantee or evidence to verify that a new program will actually provide lifetime benefits to those who participate in them. A new program may have the possibility of being successful if it actually had the funds to launch for itself. Educations current position within the economy cannot afford to add additional costs that will produce cutbacks on top of the numerous budget cuts education is already facing. Isakson also stated. “You can’t just hope the payback comes in dollars. The payback comes in a better life for those children, better quality of their health, and better quality for their education” (Gentile).

Government should invest on our current educational system at all grade levels. The quality of education will provide brighter futures rather than the quantity of a few extra number of years spent in school. I am not at all against early childhood education, but why give up on the initiatives we already have. We should improve Head start programs and look for ways to make such programs available to more children without affecting the quality of their future education. Education nationwide is suffering many budget cuts and adding new unproven effective programs may actually contribute to its negative outcomes rather than contribute to an overall improvement. Obamas initiative is honest and positive if it was actually guaranteed to work, which unfortunately is not. Our Nation’s current economic status is already affecting education. Education in general truly cannot afford any more budget cuts that may be caused by the creation of new programs.

Works Cited

Gentile, Sal. "GOP Senator Calls Universal Pre-K a 'Great Idea,' but Questions Funding." MSNBC. NBC

     Universal, 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. <http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/02/16/

     gop-senator-calls-universal-pre-k-a-great-idea-but-questions-funding/>.