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Universal Preschool News

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In this section, you'll find editorials, legislation, public policy and trends on issues relating to preschool, pre-kindergarten, childcare and the push toward universal preschool education. Particularly of note are articles concerning the states claim of a compelling interest in compulsory preschool education. Visit often for the latest preschool news.

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Just Whose Children Are They? With the push across the country for universal pre-school and all-day kindergarten, this article by a home school mom and activist is timely. The Minnesota organization, Ready4K, has a clone in every state. It was that time of year when the government rounds up all the preschool age children they can find in order to screen them for school readiness. My friends grandson went through this assembly line process only to be labeled unprepared for kindergarten. The reason? He could not adequately stand on one foot and he did not give the predetermined answer to a question. When shown a ball and asked what it was, the boy replied that it was a sphere with air in it. by Karen Bryant January 16, 2006 [More Results from Ed Action]
Legislative Update: Universal preschool/education again loom large Education again looms large in this year's legislative session. And while parents, school officials, teachers and, yes, even legislators, should be concerned with education... California ranks 48th in the nation for education excellence-the reality is that every year legislators introduce hundreds of new bills affecting schools that micromanage education by dictating how and what teachers can teach in their classrooms, what policies school boards must adopt and other Sacramento-driven mandates.

AB 171 Comprehensive pupil learning support system (Yee, D-San Francisco) AB 172 Universal preschool (Chan, Oakland) by Karen Holgate April 5, 2005 [More Results from Christian Examiner]
Quotes and References from Early Childhood Testimony Head Start - "Once the children enter school there is little difference between the scores of Head Start and control children. . . Findings for the individual cognitive measures--intelligence, readiness and achievement--reflect the same trends as the global measure. . . By the end of the second year there are no educationally meaningful differences on any of the measures." by Karen R. Effrem, MD October 20, 2003 [More Results from Ed Watch]

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