Reply to New York Times on the miracles of Universal Pre-K in DC

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "New York Times on the miracles of Universal Pre-K in DC"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm one who said it solves the wrong problem. The problem is not just that you cannot afford childcare. The problem is that you can't afford all of your basic choices without sacrificing something. Maybe you want to work - that's great. But you clearly can't afford to pay childcare to make that happen. That's not okay. Giving you free childcare fulfills the need YOU want, but it also solves a problem with something that doesn't work for me. I don't WANT free childcare, which means making the only choice to make ends meet, which keeps me away from my kids for 50 hours a week or so. I also can't afford all of my basic choices, either. I would like to choose to scale back my hours so that my child is not in a daycare / "preschool" setting for 8-10 hours every day. i would like that 24K you're getting in free "preschool" to pay for a nanny, or in a tax break so that I can scale back my hours. Hell, my husband's income is not a ton higher than that. I'd love to get a 24K tax break so that one of us could stay home. Why do you get childcare and I don't get what I need for my family?"

You are absolutely missing the point.  The vast majority of the kids who will benefit from the "free" pre-k program do not come from middle class families who may have the option of leaving a parent at home should the government provide a 24k tax break.  [b]They come from dysfunctional homes where there are no toys or books, where they are shuffled from one disinterested (yet free or low cost) caretaker to another while their parent works one or more non-professional jobs to make ends meet.  These are the kids the city aims to help with the program.[/b][/quote]

And that is a good thing. At least those children are helped.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics