In a recent op-ed in the New York Times, the former chairman and CEO of Proctor & Gamble, John E. Pepper Jr. and James Zimmerman, the former chairman and CEO of Macy’s threw their weight squarely behind early childhood education, and President Obama’s push for universal pre-kindergarten.
National Deficit
They write, “Our greatest deficit in this country — the one that most threatens our future as a nation — is our education deficit, not our fiscal one.” They’re right, but in more ways than they articulate in the Op-Ed.
- Parenting. Parents are children’s first, and most powerful teachers. The education deficit doesn’t start in pre-school. It starts at home. Excellent pre-school is a very, very good thing. But if it is not paired with wise early parenting before age 3, it is remediation, not preparation.
- Formation. Education is not just the acquisition of skills that make one useful in the workforce. Education is the cultivation of desire, and the directing of love. Education in the home and in preschools and schools that fails to recognize this may point children at futile ends, like test scores, rather than worthy ends like the love of truth, goodness and beauty.
I’ll cast a vote for universal pre-kindergarten. And I say that it is worthy of tax funding above many other programs. However, I’ll also cast my vote for initiatives like the Baby College in Harlem, or the Baby Scholars in Grand Rapids, or Parents as Teachers in virtually every state. Together, early parent support and preschool can shift us from a national deficit to a national surplus of eager, talented, courageous, wise children.