Universal Preschool

09/19/2016

Tal vez sea verdad: que un corazón es lo que mueve el mundo” ("Maybe it's true: that a heart is what moves the world.
Dámaso Alonso, Spanish poet, 1898-1990

New York City is working to provide preschool for all of the city’s public school 4 year-olds with a boost of money and additional staff/classroom requirements. "We believe that preschool is an integral part of the public-school system and public school should be universally available because every child can benefit from it," said Josh Wallack, the deputy chancellor of New York City's Department of Education in the August 2016 issue of The Atlantic. "Therefore, preschool should be universal."

These new classrooms will be expected to meet standards related to the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scales (ECERS) and teachers with higher levels of education will be hired.

"The city's experience with improving and expanding its existing preschool teaching force could provide a good test case for other cities or for the country as a whole, were the United States to pursue a national universal preschool program."

The Atlantic published a series about public preschools that can be found here.

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