Government Funding for Preschool

Children of America have some of the greatest opportunities when it comes to education. Yet somehow in the period of ages four to eighteen, a handful of the children lose their chance at a greater education. This can be linked to a possible learning deficiency, which was not caught early enough. One solution to problem of not noticing a learning problem early is putting most, if not all, four-year-old children in preschool. The problem with putting four-year-olds in preschool is a number of parents cannot afford to send their child to preschool. There are some Head Start programs, but they only give funding to families who fall below the poverty line, which for a family of four the parents must make below $23,850 (2014 Poverty Guidelines para 1). This is not fair for families who fall above the line but cannot afford preschool for their children. To make education possible for all, the government should fund preschool for all families to make it possible for all children to attend preschool at the age of four.

“Universal preschool” is a need for American’s because the cost of sending a child to a preschool is too much for most families (Wolfe and Scrivner 113). Roughly 49.3% of children of the ages three and four in America are enrolled in preschool (Percent of Population Ages 3 and 4 who are Enrolled in School: Census 2000 para 1). To send a child into daycare the cost of it is around $150 per week, and for three children in a preschool program is around $350 per week. Parents should not have to pay this much for their children to go to preschool. Children who go to preschool have a greater chance to become successful in the future, and missing out on the opportunity to become more successful can ultimately hurt the child in the...

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