Friday, November 23, 2007

Pre School for All

Remember this?

Heather Cook writes Canadian Brand Socialism: Failing the Sick and Poor and quotes this report finding,

The policy thus provides the greatest benefit to upper-income families, who as it turns out make greater use of subsidized daycare services.
Cook concludes,
To add fuel to this fire, national childcare advocates are pushing for the government to further restrict private daycare options in Canada, after an Australian company – 123 Busy Beavers – began buying up Canadian day care centers. The company’s only crime seems to be that it’s the largest such company in the world.

It seems to me that a little free-market competition might help to keep the costs reasonable and the options open for Canadian parents.

It’s clear that the Canadian brand of socialism is no longer effective. Canadians are clinging to the safety nets of “free health care” and “subsidized programs” without thinking things through. They don’t stop to ask themselves “what would happen if the tax money currently earmarked for health care and subsidies stayed in my pocket?”

If Canadian socialism can’t take care of the children and the sick, what exactly is it here for?
Today's Socialism is taking care of someone for sure; just not children, sick, or workers.

It's that reality that makes me still feel a leftist after chucking Socialism. Socialism and progressive politics just not the people's program anymore.

Also check Spontaneous Solutions on queues and waits in Stuff Rich Miller Would Never Post (Rich did).

Americans don't like queues. Americans want choices. Collective solutions have a nasty habit of benefiting those least in need, and removing everyone elses choices.

So our question in Illinois is, what exactly is Blagojevich here for? Like Canadian Socialism, the Gov's not in it for the sick and poor.

xp Bill Baar's West Side

4 comments:

Anonymous,  1:06 PM  

Illinois' "Preschool for All" effort is, in actuality, all about supporting parents' choices for their children - and expanding upon choices.

It doesn't offer a cookie-cutter solution to the problems that families face in early ed (limited access, often poor program quality, etc). It instead helps to build upon the successes of a variety of different programs that parents choose: school-based, community-based programs (such as child care centers), etc. Any of these kinds of programs that choose to participate in Preschool for All (and that pass standards of basic quality, etc) can apply for funding that'll help them raise quality further ... open their doors to more children ... etc.

Then, in turn, parents who choose to send their kids to early ed programs can choose among a variety of settings and options. At least, that's the way it'll be after several more years of expansion and investments, when we can truly get to the "for all" stage. Until then, building-up the effort remains - not surprisingly - a work in progress. Nothing gigantically successful in life is attained overnight.

A marketplace of choice, options - it's all right here.

Unknown 10:00 AM  

What is Head Start for?

My G-d we can't fund transportation and we want to give everyone pre-school.

Oy Vay Zmeer!,

--- Leland Milton Goldblatt, Ph.D. ®
Distinguished Professor
http://drgoldblatt.blogspot.com/

Bush was warned of al-Qaeda 9-11 plot

Anonymous,  8:39 PM  

"What is Head Start for?"

Answer: The very poorest families. So unless your family income is absolutely rock bottom, you generally don't qualify for Head Start. And if you're still relatively low- or middle-income, chances are pretty good you can't afford to pay full-freight for a whole year's worth of decent preschooling for your youngster. Further, chances are that you thus might not be able to get any early educational experiences for your young'un before they enter K or 1st grade.

That's what these preschool-advancement efforts are about: helping more kids to get the good early childhood experiences they might not otherwise ever hope to get.

Anonymous,  5:52 AM  

It's all about the children, over and over. We can't afford to take care of everyone's children. The state is broke, period!! We can't afford to take care of anyone anymore. State employees tried to tell us and the majority said they were complainers. Now we realize they were right. Shame on us for letting this man become a dictator with apparently no fear of the law, even the federal gumshoes. What a mess!!!

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