“Focus on Expanding PreK in Poor Communities”

Since the early days of Head Start, the debate has raged over public support for early childhood education, with the federal government deciding more than four decades ago to back programs that support the children of low-income families.

Today that debate has shifted to municipalities and states, where advocates for universal preK urge public funding for all three- and four-year-olds whose parents want to send them. Others, meanwhile, argue that with scarce public dollars, the funding should be focused on low-income preschoolers.

Bruce Fuller, professor of education and public policy at the University of California at Berkeley, maintains that research has yet to show that middle-income children receive long-term benefits from preK education and, therefore, public funding of preschool should be aimed at helping low-income youngsters where the benefits are backed by a more solid body of research.

This is an excerpt from the Harvard Education Letter. Subscribers can click here to continue reading this article. Click here to become a subscriber.