From: Sharon Anderson
To: Rep. McKell, M.,
Subject: Why H B 96 is a Bad Idea - Please vote NO
Date: 2014-02-06T22:47:50Z
Body:

Please read the information below and vote NO on H B 96
Sincerely,
Peter and Sharon Anderson

This bill would create government contracts with private entities to fund preschool programs administered by The State Board of Education AND the Department of WORKFORCE SERVICES!

A special revenue fund is created with our TAX DOLLARS ($5 MILLION on-going), FEDERAL GRANTS, and private donations.  Private investors contract with the state, but the bill is exceptionally vague about who they might be and what their role in the program is.

The private investors must be paid back WITH INTEREST for each individual child who succeeds, meaning that Big Brother must track every child!  So to determine results, they need yet another database for keeping your tiny child's information.

Starting on line 84 of the bill it states Local Education Agencies (L E A s or SCHOOLS) have "a data system capacity to collect longitudinal academic outcome data. . with a statewide unique student identifier."  Longitudinal data is the study of the same child who is researched and observed over a long period of time.   The data is classified as P20W which means, Preschool, thru 20 years of schooling, into Workforce.

So we have lots of questions:

  • Do we REALLY think institutionalizing 3-4 year old babies is a good idea?
  • When 3 and 4 year old children, who lack the maturity, mental capacity and attention spans to learn in institutional settings . . . when they learn best through the active involvement of play . . . how can we expect any real benefit?
  • Isn't this just government funded daycare?
  • Is this the best use of our education dollars?
  • Why would we want to institute any program that rewards failure?
  • Why are we trying yet another preschool program when 'Head Start' has proved to be ineffective and a waste of money by every measure?
  • How is this preschool program any different than 'Head Start', and how will the results be measured?
  • When countries such as Finland and Denmark lead the world in academic achievement without formally educating their children until age 8, why do we want to do the opposite with our tiny children?
  • With anti-social behavior on the rise, why would we want to put our child at risk for Attachment Disorder by separating them from their parents at such a young age for hours of preschool?

Please watch this short video that was produced to address SB-42 (similar preschool legislation) called "Play, not PreK" and imagine YOUR child, or grandchild, or niece and nephew in the place of the darling little 3 year old . . .