Teacher’s Union Chief Pushes Preschool for Three-Year-Olds
(CNSNews.com) – Children as young as three years old should be in public pre-school programs, according to Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the nation’s largest teacher’s union.
The AFT “would love to see” children “from age three on” attending these programs, Weingarten told CNSNews.com last week during a teleconference about preschool curricula. “The research is completely conclusive of the issue that our brains develop faster between birth and five years old than they do pretty much at any other time.”
When asked if she thought that children that age would be better off at school than at home, Weingarten said: “Look, I think that when kids have great home situations, that is the best thing that can happen to them.”
But some children, she said, don’t have good home situations.
“That’s what we’re saying here,” she said. “It’s not pitting anything against anything, it’s about saying, ‘Let’s see when we can get kids to come to school’ and to use that opportunity.”
Former Assistant Education Secretary Susan Neuman said she thinks most parents will have no choice but to see their young children educated away from home.
“The reality is that most of our children need child care, regardless,” she said. “Many parents are lucky enough to be home for the day. But more often than not they will need child care.”
Neuman added: “What we’re talking about is how to create a quality environment for those children. It’s not enough just to have access. We need quality.”
However, Colleen Holmes, executive director of the conservative Eagle Forum, disagrees with Weingarten’s age-specific referral of children for public education.
Read the rest at CNSNews.com
The AFT “would love to see” children “from age three on” attending these programs, Weingarten told CNSNews.com last week during a teleconference about preschool curricula. “The research is completely conclusive of the issue that our brains develop faster between birth and five years old than they do pretty much at any other time.”
When asked if she thought that children that age would be better off at school than at home, Weingarten said: “Look, I think that when kids have great home situations, that is the best thing that can happen to them.”
But some children, she said, don’t have good home situations.
“That’s what we’re saying here,” she said. “It’s not pitting anything against anything, it’s about saying, ‘Let’s see when we can get kids to come to school’ and to use that opportunity.”
Former Assistant Education Secretary Susan Neuman said she thinks most parents will have no choice but to see their young children educated away from home.
“The reality is that most of our children need child care, regardless,” she said. “Many parents are lucky enough to be home for the day. But more often than not they will need child care.”
Neuman added: “What we’re talking about is how to create a quality environment for those children. It’s not enough just to have access. We need quality.”
However, Colleen Holmes, executive director of the conservative Eagle Forum, disagrees with Weingarten’s age-specific referral of children for public education.
Read the rest at CNSNews.com
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