Welcome
Last year, North Carolina spent over $128 million in state funds for
preschool programs. Parents directed a
substantial portion of that spending to private, for-profit preschools. The outrage that followed was…non-existent.
So, could you tell me again why K-12 school vouchers are evil?
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CommenTerry
The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER),
a preschool advocacy group based at Rutgers University in New Jersey, just
released the 2012
edition of "The State of Preschool." "The State of Preschool" is an
annual evaluation of state-run preschool programs that focuses on three general
areas — access, quality, and resources.
NIEER researchers note that North Carolina’s struggling
economy has taken a toll on both access and resources. NC Pre-K (formerly More at Four) enrolls
fewer students and spends fewer dollars than in the past. They note that the state had a five-percentage
point decline in enrollment and a $171 per student decrease in spending in
2012. On the other hand, the NIEER
report notes that North Carolina was one of only four states in the nation to
meet all ten of NIEER’s benchmarks for quality.
These benchmarks address a range of issues ranging from teacher
credentials to class size.
NIEER concludes that state and federal governments should
increase funding for preschool programs or be prepared to "pay the price." Nearly all of North Carolina’s left-leaning policy
organizations, advocacy groups, and the mainstream media agree — viva la
voucher!
Wait a minute. You
mean to tell me that NC Pre-K is a large-scale voucher program? In the words of the Kool-Aid Man, "Oh
Yeah!"
According to an
evaluation published by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development
Institute, one-third of NC Pre-K classrooms operated in private settings in
2012. Nearly 1 in 4 of the program’s
classrooms operated in for-profit
private settings. Of the remaining
classrooms, just over half were in public preschools. Sixteen percent were in Head Start programs,
but only a small percentage of them were administered by a public school.
Interestingly, the distribution of More at Four/NC Pre-K classrooms
remained fairly stable over the last decade, although the public preschool
classroom market share had been on the rise since 2008. Regardless, the fact that parents are using
preschool vouchers to send their children to private, mostly for-profit,
preschools is nothing new.
And who are these parents?
Around 90 percent of them have incomes that make their children eligible
for free or reduced-price lunches (below 185 percent of the federal poverty
line or $43,568 for a family of four).
The remaining ten percent of families have incomes that exceed 185
percent of poverty.
Last year, nearly four percent of NC Pre-K families had
incomes that were greater than 251 percent of poverty or over $59,000 for a
family of four. These middle-income
families are eligible for state aid because they have children with developmental
or educational risk factors. In what
some may consider an ideological flip-flop, Republicans have attempted to
change the eligibility requirements for NC Pre-K to focus scarce funding and
services on the most impoverished children in the state. On the other hand, middle-income families
have received preschool vouchers for years without serious complaint from the Left.
Let’s review. For
over a decade, the Left has supported state preschool programs that have 1)
sent tens of millions of dollars in public funds to private institutions; 2)
supported hundreds of for-profit institutions with state money; and 3) allowed
middle income families to receive state aid for preschool services. The implication is clear. The Left is hypocritical for championing More
at Four/NC Pre-K and opposing K-12 vouchers on any of these grounds.
Facts and Stats
NC Pre-K served 29,312 children last year.
Source: Peisner‐Feinberg, E. S., Schaaf, J.
M., Hildebrandt, L., & LaForett, D. R., "Quality and
characteristics of the North Carolina Pre‐Kindergarten Program: 2011-2012 Statewide evaluation," Chapel
Hill: The University of North Carolina, FPG Child Development Institute, 2013.
Education Acronym
of the Week
NIEER — National Institute for Early Education Research
Quote of the Week
"In sum, the primary characteristics of the NC Pre‐K
Program have remained quite similar to those of recent years of the More at
Four Program, its predecessor."
– Peisner‐Feinberg et al, "Quality and characteristics of the North
Carolina Pre‐Kindergarten Program: 2011-2012 Statewide evaluation," 2013, p. 6.
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