Dayton's flawed preschool ideas

Problems with Dayton’s ideas from the horse’s mouth (the Minnesota School Board Association):

“In the areas of early education, our school board members prefer state revenue to be committed to school readiness or ECFE, as exists in the Senate or House bill. These are established, public programs that have been proven to prepare targeted at-risk three- and four-year-olds for kindergarten. This has been our consistent message since the beginning of the session.”

Board members have shared their implementation and operational concerns with Governor Dayton’s universal pre-K program. These concerns are as follows:

1. elimination of the school readiness program

2. requiring that four-year olds be in school longer than any other student

3. limited facility resources

4. mandatory class size and staff-to-student ratios

5. parent participation requirements

6. requiring early childhood teachers to be paid comparable to K-12 teachers

7. coordinated professional development with community-based early learning providers

8. requiring school districts to recruit, contract and monitor early childhood programs for fiscal and program quality.

“Given these concerns, it seems premature to move to a new, universal four-year program when two established and effective programs for early childhood education exist.”

• Want more information? Here's the stance of the Minnesota Family Licensed Child Care Association: MLFCCA opposes Universal Preschool.

Universal Preschool is a movement in direct conflict with research that continues to amplify the importance of early childhood play-based learning environments, like family child care, that support children’s interests and natural curiosities with time to explore and experience learning at their individual pace and level of development. 

Universal Preschool does not address the need to fund research that specifically cites in what type of care setting the children who are not prepared for kindergarten have been in order to appropriately target funding.

Based on the current adult-to-child ratio, Universal Preschool will significantly impact the sustainability of the licensed family child care profession, which has lost significant numbers of providers since 2011. 

Universal Preschool will force a market change that will negatively impact and create a financial burden for families seeking care for children birth to three as family child care programs will be forced to raise rates to earn a sustainable operating income.

Agree? Disagree? Either way you can voice your opinion now at:

Office of Governor Mark Dayton

651-201-3400

Submit a message via contact form

http://mn.gov/governor/contact-us/form/