Member-only story
The Case for Preschool
The proven success of Head Start and the future implications of universal preschool
A little over 50 percent of American children between the ages of 3 to 5 attend some form of pre-kindergarten every year. Compared to the over 90 percent who do the same in the European Union, it is clear why the United States has a strong reputation for underperforming other rich countries on educational standards.
Every developed nation has some form of guaranteed healthcare, many are experimenting with 4 day work days, subsidizing community college, and meanwhile the United States is still debating whether offering the underprivileged a chance at an additional year of schooling is socialism or not.
In 1965, as part of his Great Society social program, Lyndon B. Johnson created the Head Start program, which provides a federally subsidized preschool education for anyway who falls 100 percent below the federal poverty line. Decades later, there are still one million children enrolled every year, and the results have been relatively well received. Kids that attend Head Start garner indispensable soft skills like listening, following directions, self-control, and learning to share and take turns.
While the pedagogical benefits are not clear in the short term, there are strong indicators that it has significant long term effects. While the…
