Thread: Why is Pre-K not mandatory?

Why do you either qualify by low income or have to pay for it? Why do they not make it mandatory part of the free Public education for everyone?

because honestly pre-k is glorified daycare. kids can take naps, eat cookies, and play at home or at daycare.

well, since the school district i work for has had to cut almost $90 million from the budget due to the economy there isn't money for mandatory pre school.

There's no money for it. Funding universal pre-K would mean taking resources from the rest of the (already strapped) public education system.

Pre-K is a play time and a socialization thing. Your kids can learn more at home or at daycare.Plus, kids have to be potty trained to enter school, and you can enter pre-K at 3, but not all kids are potty trained by then. If it was mandatory we'd have kids in diapers there.

I think it should be too, maybe it will be someday. i understand what people are saying about the budget though. my son will be in kindergarten next year and this is his second year of preschool and he's already doing kindergarten level stuff, so i think about all of those kids that didn't go to preschool...are they going to be behind, or will the ones that went to preschool be bored because they are learning the same stuff again and again...

Personally I'm glad it's not part of free public education. The less interference from the government at this level, the better. It'll happen soon enough. I take it to mean you are talking about preschool - I don't call it pre-k - and it is a lot more than glorified daycare. My son's school teaches him basic handwriting skills, they learn letters, socialization, etc. They are there 2 1/2 hours a day four days a week and it's quite an academic program. So I'm not sure what the one poster was referring to. Our preschool is nothing like what she mentioned. If you're low income and can't afford it, then there should probably be some assistance programs in place - but it's not necessary to send your child to preschool. There are Headstart programs that can do that if you're low-income. And I know some parents in my area who are taking advantage of a government subsidized preschool that can obviously afford it.

Because many of the skills (many social skills) can be learned in numerous ways and places. If you can't afford Pre-K and don't qualify as low income and still want your child to be involved in such activities there are many places you can go. Look at your local churches many offer Mother's Day out programs, and other programs for younger children in which your child could get the social skills, some basic learning skills, art skills etc and it would be at low or no cost to you.Also look at your local community center- there are likely similar programs that you could take your child to. So really use the community resources to their fullest and you should be able to get your child in some program that would help his or her development.