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June 2006 > Events
Fuller, Kirp and Freedberg Lead Lively Cal Day Panel on Preschool
If GSE’s Cal Day panel is any indication, voters had a difficult time deciding which way to vote on Proposition 82 on the state's June ballot. The so-called Reiner Initiative (named after actor Rob Reiner who launched the initiative) would establish the right to voluntary public preschool for all four-year-olds in California beginning in fall 2010.
UC Berkeley professors Bruce Fuller and David Kirp discussed the pros and cons of the proposed legislation with San Francisco Chronicle editorial writer and columnist Louis Freedberg moderating in a panel entitled, “No Toddler Left Behind? California's Preschool for All Act.”
While both Kirp and Fuller agreed that a quality program could benefit major swaths of kids and parents, Fuller argued that the bulk of Prop. 82 funding would benefit better-off families who already send their children to preschool, according to recent research. He also said that a better preschool initiative could be implemented for much less cost, leaving more money for serious school finance reform, providing universal health care or any number of other critical issues.
Kirp said that he and Fuller were aware of “the downward pressure from No Child Left Behind narrowing. Even though it [the proposition] uses the language ‘developmentally appropriate,’ the pressure from the feds on the one hand and parents to get kids to know their letters and numbers at age 0, you know after they’ve gotten Mozart mastered is enormous.” But Kirp said the two probably disagreed about how prescriptive the program would be.
“From an audience perspective, it was everything it should be,” said Dean David Pearson “a lively, intellectually provocative, collegial interchange on one of the more vexing issues in educational policy.”
Download and Watch Select Video Clips
[Don’t have QuickTime? Free download here]
Kirp1 [43 seconds/2.8 MB]
What’s the magic of going from preschool to kindergarten?
Kirp2 [22 seconds/1.5 MB]
Does this initiative represent the good being the enemy of the best?
Fuller1 [29 seconds/2 MB]
Why are enrollment rates high among African American children?
Fuller2 [27 seconds/1.8 MB]
What’s the wisdom of having childcare providers earn a bachelor’s degree to teach preschool?
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