President Obama’s plan to provide free, high-quality preschool across the country is getting a mixed response, garnering broad support for helping poor children but raising questions about expanding entitlements and the success of similar programs.
The president announced the plan during his State of the Union address last week, arguing that America must begin preparing its citizens for the new, high-tech economy at the “earliest possible age.”
“Study after study shows that the sooner a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road.” However, less than 30 percent of 4-year-olds are enrolled in a “high-quality” preschool program, he said.
Obama argued most middle-class parents cannot afford a few hundred dollars a week for private preschool and that poor children, who need help the most, could be at a disadvantage “for the rest of their lives” as a result of not having access to such education.
