It troubles me that the Democratic candidate for Texas governor is campaigning for "universal pre-K" for all Texas children. Her definition of "universal pre-K" is forcing all four-year-olds to attend school in full, day-long sessions. Ms. Davis, the candidate in question, made this announcement at the convention of the Texas State Teacher's Association, and apparently to a standing ovation!
Ms. Davis further explains that even though this program would cost at least $750 million per year, failure to do so would cause many school students to fail later on during their school career. So, apparently if we are not sending toddlers and young children to "pre-K" this somehow dooms them to failure to graduate from high school? Of course Ms. Davis does not mention from where these hundreds of millions of dollars will magically appear each year. The answer is that the current tax system in Texas CANNOT support such a program; however, this little detail is not that much of a concern to Ms. Davis. She only last week had a personal audience with President Obama, who is not a role model for staying in budget.
There is something, though, that concerns me more than the cost of a "universal pre-K program," and that is the idea of "the State" forcing parents to turn over their young children to the school system before these children have even had a childhood. I realize many parents may have to send their children to daycare while they work, but even if this is the case, the children have a day split between fun-style learning and ... playing. If parents want their very young children to have educational toys and play educational games all day, or if they want their children to simply enjoy a couple of years as care-free children, that is the parents' choice. Children are not property of the state, either legally or de facto. Ms. Davis and others like her will probably not be satisfied until there is a "teacher" assigned to the birthing team at all Texas hospitals.
Ms. Davis does not want the education these young children receive to be just a "daycare-type" education, my friends; she has very candidly admitted that her brand of education for your four-year-old will include a TAKS-like end-of-the-year test. She did not say whether kids who did poorly on the test would be held in pre-K (for four-year-olds) another year. So, one thing you must consider when voting for the next governor of Texas is, do you want mandatory schooling for young children. If you are one who votes for Democrats no matter what, you must understand that you are voting for Ms. Davis's proposition if you support her for governor.
I do not believe children so young should be in a graded school system, nor should they be in a day-long school program, period. We truly live in a busy society these days, and most households these days are two-income households. But our children did not force us into busy work lives or two-job marriages. Neither should they be robbed of their childhoods by early school programs. Certainly "the State" should not become our children's parents. If you want your children, and all the children of Texas, to be allowed their childhood, please consider either voting for someone else, or demanding that Ms. Davis drop this plank from her campaign platform.
Ms. Davis further explains that even though this program would cost at least $750 million per year, failure to do so would cause many school students to fail later on during their school career. So, apparently if we are not sending toddlers and young children to "pre-K" this somehow dooms them to failure to graduate from high school? Of course Ms. Davis does not mention from where these hundreds of millions of dollars will magically appear each year. The answer is that the current tax system in Texas CANNOT support such a program; however, this little detail is not that much of a concern to Ms. Davis. She only last week had a personal audience with President Obama, who is not a role model for staying in budget.
There is something, though, that concerns me more than the cost of a "universal pre-K program," and that is the idea of "the State" forcing parents to turn over their young children to the school system before these children have even had a childhood. I realize many parents may have to send their children to daycare while they work, but even if this is the case, the children have a day split between fun-style learning and ... playing. If parents want their very young children to have educational toys and play educational games all day, or if they want their children to simply enjoy a couple of years as care-free children, that is the parents' choice. Children are not property of the state, either legally or de facto. Ms. Davis and others like her will probably not be satisfied until there is a "teacher" assigned to the birthing team at all Texas hospitals.
Ms. Davis does not want the education these young children receive to be just a "daycare-type" education, my friends; she has very candidly admitted that her brand of education for your four-year-old will include a TAKS-like end-of-the-year test. She did not say whether kids who did poorly on the test would be held in pre-K (for four-year-olds) another year. So, one thing you must consider when voting for the next governor of Texas is, do you want mandatory schooling for young children. If you are one who votes for Democrats no matter what, you must understand that you are voting for Ms. Davis's proposition if you support her for governor.
I do not believe children so young should be in a graded school system, nor should they be in a day-long school program, period. We truly live in a busy society these days, and most households these days are two-income households. But our children did not force us into busy work lives or two-job marriages. Neither should they be robbed of their childhoods by early school programs. Certainly "the State" should not become our children's parents. If you want your children, and all the children of Texas, to be allowed their childhood, please consider either voting for someone else, or demanding that Ms. Davis drop this plank from her campaign platform.
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