Early Ed Watch

Parents in New Jersey are protesting a state law that requires children in pre-kindergarten and center-based child care programs to have flu shots (hat tip: Alexander Russo). States typically require children to receive certain vaccinations, such as vaccines for whooping cough, polio, and diptheria, in order to enroll in school. But New Jersey is the first state to require preschool-aged children to get the flu vaccine.

We sure had to wait for it, but a question about education finally made it into last night's third and final presidential debate. Here is what the candidates had to say on early education:

BOB SCHIEFFER: The U.S. spends more per capita than any other country on education. Yet, by every international measurement, in math and science competence, from kindergarten through the 12th grade, we trail most of the countries of the world. The implications of this are clearly obvious. Some even say it poses a threat to our national security. Do you feel that way and what do you intend to do about it?

SEN. OBAMA: ... In some cases, we are going to have to invest. Early childhood education, which closes the achievement gap, so that every child is prepared for school, every dollar we invest in that, we end up getting huge benefits with improved reading scores, reduced dropout rates, reduced delinquency rates. ...

SCHIEFFER: Do you think the federal government should play a larger role in the schools? And I mean, more federal money?

SEN. MCCAIN: ...spending more money isn't always the answer. I think the Head Start program is a great program. A lot of people, including me, said, look, it's not doing what it should do. By the third grade many times children who were in the Head Start program aren't any better off than the others.

Let's reform it. Let's reform it and fund it. That was, of course, out-of-bounds by the Democrats. We need to reform these programs. We need to have transparency. We need to have rewards. It's a system that cries out for accountability and transparency and the adequate funding.

 

 

“The wheels on the bus go round and round …”

Or do they?

Beginning next fall, all public schools in Maine <!--[if !supportAnnotations]-->will be required to provide transportation for pre-k students. This is good news for many parents who live far from pre-k sites and might otherwise have to forgo pre-k for a neighborhood daycare center. Similarly, pre-k providers worry that they lack of transportation, especially for half-day programs, impacts enrollment of low-income children. Yet as school officials in Maine are beginning to realize, providing safe transportation for pre-k can be complicated and expensive.

Cato Unbound is hosting an interesting discussion this week of Charles Murray's recent book, Real Education, which argues that America is sending too many young people to college and the 4-year BA should be replaced with shorter, more narrowly tailored vocation programs.