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ale5

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan for free preschool for 3-year-olds, expanding current program for 4-year-olds nyti.ms/2pWzKsx

Pino

Yes, I feel the earlier the various ethnic groups can integrate the smoother and more natural the meshing of the different cultures and backgrounds will be.
It must be free for everyone so people will not be subjected to the stigma of means testing and a class culture, of the rich and poor, developing within the classes.

agsr

All of these programs by the government are inefficient and partially  result in fraud and waste.  I am not supportive of increasing spending for  government-ran programs, I would rather see a lower tax bill and have people make their own prioritization decisions.

WhyTrump

I think that's a good idea. That will encorage social development for kids whose parents can't afford preschool.

MayCaesar

Nothing is ever free. The question is: "Who pays for it?" If the consumers pay, then the entity has a strong incentive to improve the quality of its services to attract more consumers. If some random rich guy pays instead, someone who has no personal stake in the system, then the entity has little incentive to do anything barring the bare minimum it needs to satisfy the governmental requirements.

A preschool for 3 year old kids seems especially weird in this regard, as there is very little a school can teach a kid at that age that a parent can't. Seems like a waste to me, and an excuse for lazy parents to hand their children over to the school so they don't have to put their own effort into raising them.

The regular kindergarten system works well enough. I see no point in any preschools in addition to that.

WordsMatter

@MayCaesar "The regular kindergarten system works well enough. I see no point in any preschools in addition to that."

What exactly are you comparing the current system against to be able to judge it as working well? If the only weapon you ever used to hunt was a primitive bow and arrow and someone hypothetically suggested using a gun to hunt it's easy to say that the bow and area works well enough because you don't have any real concrete example to compare it against. 

Personally I think education is the best place for taxes to go towards. It is the one government run program that is actually an investment in the future, a more educated populace is far more competitive and innovative on the global scale directly improving the possibilities and effectiveness of private businesses. Unlike food stamps, the theory of free education is those that receive the education will pay enough in taxes over their lifetime to not only repay the money spent on their own education, but also the education of others. Essentially generating a net gain for the economy.

With that said my biggest concern with public education, particularly grade schools and high schools, is the high potential to indoctrinate large portions of the population. What does standing for the pledge of allegiance everyday have to do with getting an education? Yet I'm positive their would be wide outcry if schools decided to stop doing the pledge of allegiance. Showing the nationalist indoctrination in schools has worked.

Also I don't see a good reason for kindergarten to be free, but grade school through college has the potential generate a long term positive for the economy, but its effects would take at the least decades, but more realistically around 100 years to really evaluate.

YeshuaRedeemed

Here's a thought: Use birth control if you can't provide for a child. We cannot have free chit for everyone.