Federally-Funded, Universal Pre-K Has Overwhelming Public Support

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http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/09/08/federally-funded-universal-pre-k-has-overwhelming-public-support



Seven out of 10 Americans say they favor using federal money to fund pre-kindergarten education

Federally-Funded, Universal Pre-K Has Overwhelming Public Support
Deirdre Fulton, staff writer
Monday, September 08, 2014

Seventy percent of Americans favor using federal money to fund universal preschool, according to a Gallup poll released Monday.

The survey results support President Barack Obama's call for universal access to preschool education for 4-year-olds prior to entering kindergarten. In his 2014 State of the Union address, Obama reiterated his call for a massive investment in pre-kindergarten programs: "Research shows that one of the best investments we can make in a child’s life is high-quality early education. Last year, I asked this Congress to help states make high-quality pre-K available to every 4-year-old. As a parent as well as a president, I repeat that request tonight."

Congress has not yet acted on this issue, but 30 states have raised their own funds to make preschool available to more children. Last week, more than 50,000 public school children in New York City went to class for the first time, as the city officially began its expanded prekindergarten program, what the New York Times called "the marquee undertaking of Bill de Blasio’s mayoralty."

The Gallup poll found Republicans are much less likely than Democrats to favor using federal money to expand pre-K education (53 to 87 percent, respectively), "perhaps related to their preferences for more limited government spending and more limited federal involvement in education and other spheres of society." It also found that non-white and lower income respondents were more likely to support expanding preschool education than white respondents or those in middle- and upper-income households.