Third Way: The Universal Benefits Of Universal Preschool
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In 2019, the National Institute for Early Childhood Research found that about half of all three and four-year-olds in the United States were not enrolled in preschool. This is a much higher proportion than most first-world countries, and is especially concerning given that preschool typically provides for greater educational success. The high cost of private preschool is a clear barrier to enrollment, as low-income families may spend up to 116% of their annual income on private preschool. If, as some of the studies show, preschool attendance does indeed impact future outcomes, the high cost of private preschool is thus contributing to the cycle of poverty that minority and low-income families are already facing.
Biden’s American Families Plan
In order to combat this inequity regarding schooling and other issues that plague American families, Biden is currently proposing the American Families Plan. His plan is focused on improving the economics of the middle class, as Biden wants to make it easier for families to enter the middle class and remain there. The plan has several different facets that will hopefully all be implemented in America, many of which are focused on lowering the economic burden that is associated with childcare and schooling. Biden’s plan will also hopefully reduce some of the racial inequity that currently exists.
One of the biggest aspects of the plan is in regards to schooling. Biden’s plan would provide four years of free education – two years of universal preschool as well as two years of community college for all Americans, including DREAMers. Although Biden’s preschool program will cost $200 billion from Congress, it is estimated to provide benefits to the GDP of more than three times greater than the initial investment. Implementing universal preschool would allow all children to benefit from it, not just those from a higher-income family that are able to afford the thousands of dollars in yearly tuition. Preschool has also been shown to benefit both individual families as well as the country’s economy in the long run, as children attending preschool allows for both of their parents to attend work and thus creates economic growth and increases labor force participation.
Preschool Critics
Yet some critics would argue that the idea of universal preschool - however good it might sound – does not accomplish its intended goal. Since preschool is voluntary, whether or not a child attends preschool – irrespective of cost – is the parents’ decision. While those backing Biden’s universal program state that children who attend preschool have better life and educational outcomes than those who do not, it is possible that these outcomes are determined more by the parents and their motivations to help their children and ensure their success than actually attending preschool. A Head Start study was performed with the intention of determining this. The study was focused on parents who enrolled their children in preschool but the accepted children were chosen through random lottery, meaning that all of the children came from parents with similar motivations regarding school. There was no educational difference between the children who did or did not attend by first grade. This suggests that parental involvement might play more of a role in a child’s educational success than preschool.
Universal Benefits
However, a long-term study performed on children in Oklahoma – which has had universal preschool since 1998 – shows otherwise. Researchers from Georgetown University studied the academic differences of kids in middle school who had attended preschool and those who had not. This study found that middle school children who attended preschool had higher math scores and were more likely to enroll in honors courses than those who did not. As roughly 7 in 10 Oklahoma children attend preschool, this study appears to negate the difference that parental values and motivations might play in their children’s academic success.
Even if preschool alone might not help kids academically, free universal preschool would allow parents who cannot afford daycare or nannies to have someplace free to send their children during the day. This would save these families money and allow the parents to get a job since they would no longer need to be home with the children. Universal preschool would save the average family an estimated $13,000 in childcare a year, which would be especially noticeable by minority families, as they spend an average of 15% of their monthly income on childcare. As the goal of Biden’s American Families Plan is to help more families break into the middle class and ease the economic burdens of the middle class, providing a free and educational environment for children to go to is one step in achieving this.
Bipartisan Support
The idea of universal preschool is unique in today’s polarized society as it appears to be a bipartisan issue. While Biden, a Democrat, is the president proposing universal preschool, the only three states that currently offer universal preschool statewide are Florida, Georgia, and Oklahoma. These are all traditionally conservative states, although Georgia has become slightly “bluer” lately, yet still support universal preschool. This might appear surprising, as this free preschool would be funded through increased taxes, which conservatives are typically against. Nonetheless, these conservative states have supported universal preschool longer than most liberal states, demonstrating that children’s education does not need to be a partisan issue. Also, to ease the minds of questioning conservatives, the long-term monetary benefits of the universal preschool program in Oklahoma are at least twice that of the cost and, under Biden’s plan, no one with an income under $400,000 would even see their taxes change to fund the program.
While the data appear to be mixed in regards to the degree to which preschool affects a child’s educational success, there are more studies that demonstrate the benefits of an early preschool program – and it definitely does no harm. Above all else, Biden’s plan for universal preschool would reduce economic stress to low-income and minority families who have been struggling to pay for childcare. This plan is just one step in Biden’s overall goal to improve racial and class equity and enable children all over America to benefit from universal preschool.
