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Reiner's preschool white elephant
Education Op-Ed
By: Lance T. Izumi, J.D.
3.14.2006
California Political Review, March 14, 2006
Californians should consider less expensive
alternatives to Prop. 82's creation of yet another
bloated bureaucratic fiefdom.
How much preschool is needed to prepare children for
kindergarten and subsequent grades? According to Rob
Reiner's June ballot Prop. 82, the answer is one year
of government-run preschool for all four-year-olds at a
whopping cost of $2.4 billion per year. Yet a
successful but much less expensive five-week preschool
program has already been operating for two years in
California.
Reiner and his allies contend that the high cost of his
proposal is worth it, citing a RAND study that claims
that for every $1 expended on preschool, society will
receive $2.62 in long-term benefits such as better
student performance and less criminal activity. RAND,
however, admits that the Chicago preschool program for
low-income children on which it bases its estimates is
unlike Reiner's initiative in many key ways: the level
of parental involvement and the provision of services
such as speech therapy and home visitations is simply
not comparable to any situation in California.
Even Georgetown University Professor William Gormley, a
well-known proponent of Prop. 82-style preschool
legislation, acknowledges that such programs 'may or
may not be the best path to school readiness.''
Indeed, hugely expanding poor-performing state and
county education bureaucracies to run a massive new
education initiative of questionable impact seems like
a guaranteed formula for failure. And to entrench this
scheme in the state constitution through a vote of the
electorate is just plain dumb, especially given the
alternatives to the Reiner plan that are already
working.
For example: Ready to Start, a five-week preschool
program held during the summer before children begin
kindergarten. Ready to Start carries a price tag of
only $350 per child, as opposed to the more than $8,000
allocated per child under Prop. 82. The program,
operated in Kern County's Greenfield and Rosedale
school districts, is a partnership between local
businesses, education agencies, and colleges. It uses
existing school facilities and provides a structured
academic experience for children.
Ready to Start evaluates children's academic skills
against established standards and the achievement of
students will be tracked as they progress through
elementary and middle school. Children are tested on a
variety of reading, math, and social skills before
entering the program and also at the end. Children's
scores greatly improved by the conclusion of the
program, and the improved skills retained through
kindergarten. This short-term success for the five-week
program is similar to the short-term successes claimed
by the Reiner camp for year-long preschool. According
to one local education official, 'We can do something
in five weeks at lower cost than programs that take
longer and cost more money.''
It is important to remember that as with Reiner's
program, no guarantee exists that Ready to Start's
positive effects will last through the academic careers
of children from different income groups. Indeed, a
recent UC-Santa Barbara study found that the positive
effects of preschool fade away by the middle of
elementary school, and even RAND admits that there is
no long-term evidence that preschool has any benefits
for middle- and upper- income children.
If there is uncertainty about the long-term positive
effects of any type of preschool program, and if
shorter and cheaper programs seem equally promising,
then Reiner's plan looks more like a high-risk white
elephant. No wonder Senate Democrat Leader Don Perata
recently withdrew his endorsement of Prop. 82, calling
the initiative's flaws 'fatal.''
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Lance T. Izumi is the Director of Education Studies
at the Pacific Research Institute. He can be reached by
email at lizumi@pacificresearch.org.
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