Re: San Diego UT on Prop 82

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

I think this letter from the San Francisco Chronicle is an appropriate 
answer to some of Nancy's concerns.

*

Editor -- I will vote in favor of Proposition 82, having learned that it 
will use all of our state preschool programs. Also, I know that preschool 
teachers are trained to identify children who may have special needs, and 
can refer parents to appropriate professional help. Whatever the problem, 
early intervention is the key to achieving the best possible outcome for 
each child.

It was my grandson's first public preschool teacher who alerted us to the 
fact that what we had thought of as just some of Alexander's "odd little 
ways'' were actually "diagnostic markers" for autism.

Alex is now 6, attends a regular public school kindergarten class, with 
only part-time special help. His extraordinary progress is due to the work 
of the dedicated staff at his second public preschool, Presidio CDC (now 
being continued at his current school); and his parents' constant work with 
him at home. This early intervention all began with the professional 
observations of a well-trained public preschool teacher. Yes on 82!

*

Of course, if you don't believe in public education, then you shouldn't 
support public preschool. But I don't think it's honest to argue on the one 
hand that we shouldn't have public schools and on the other that Prop. 82 
is bad because it might undermine public schools. Saying "I don't think 
there's enough money" is not really an argument unless you have done some 
calculations of revenue and expense. Even the Legislative Analyst 
(generally fairly cautious about such things) calculates that there's 
enough money in the first years to set aside a reserve sufficient to fund 
the program for a year.

Preschool for all should be a right just as K-12 for all, college for all, 
and health care for all. I suggested in a previous post that passage of 
Proposition 82 would increase the odds for eliminating some of the 
corporate tax loopholes that have accumulated for a generation. Defeat of 
82 would certainly dim the prospects for single-payer health insurance in 
California.

At 09:37 PM 6/5/2006 -0700, Nancy wrote:

> I don't see how adding another level of education to an already broken 
> system is a good idea.
>
> Any public school will have its curriculum and standards and materials 
> dictated by the state/federal government.  Whether that is benign or evil 
> depends on who is in power and what your point of view about education is.
>
> I don't like the idea of making pre-school teachers have to have 
> credentials.  Needing knowledge about child development is important, but 
> pre-school shouldn't be academic.



Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion has no hold on the mind. 
Therefore do not use compulsion, but let early education be rather a sort 
of amusement.   - Plato

George Sheridan