The Maine Wire
  • News
  • Commentary
  • Maine Wire TV
  • Podcasts
  • About
  • Contact
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending News
  • Chinese Foreign Nationals Entering U.S. Illegally at Record Levels
  • Maine Private School Teacher Was Fired After Criticizing Critical Race Theory and Posting Jordan Peterson Videos
  • Maine on Track for Record Level of Eviction Filings This Year
  • Dem Senator Indicted Over Alleged Bribery Scheme
  • McDonald’s Is Being Sued Over a Spilled Cup of Excessively Hot Coffee — Again
  • Report of Gun Leads to Arrests, Fentanyl Seizure at Auburn Homeless Encampment
  • Portland Mayoral Candidates Explain How They Would Tackle the City’s Homelessness Crisis
  • Boston University Launches Inquiry into Ibram X. Kendi’s $43 Million Antiracism Center Amid Mass Layoffs, Accusations of Financial Mismanagement
Facebook Twitter Instagram
The Maine Wire
Login
Monday, September 25
  • News
  • Commentary
  • Maine Wire TV
  • Podcasts
  • About
  • Contact
The Maine Wire
Home » News » The costs of universal pre-K are not worth the benefits
Education

The costs of universal pre-K are not worth the benefits

Liam SigaudBy Liam SigaudJanuary 2, 2019No Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Reddit
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email

It is no secret that the Mills administration and legislative Democrats are planning to launch a big push for a universal pre-K program this year.

Universal pre-K has been on progressives’ wishlist for a long time, and they just might have the votes in the legislature to make it a reality in Maine. In the next few months, you are likely to hear politicians talk about how universal pre-K is a way to help disadvantaged children catch up to their peers, reverse Maine’s sliding national K-12 education rankings, and deliver tangible societal benefits that will strengthen our workforce and economy for decades to come.

The rhetoric may be seducing, but it’ll bear little resemblance to the facts.

From a fiscal perspective, implementing a universal pre-K program in Maine would come at a significant cost to taxpayers. Maine already funds some pre-K programs through its state school funding formula, and recent federal grants have provided millions more in funding. But Maine’s current public pre-K programs overwhelmingly serve low-income students. We’re still a long way from a truly universal program.

Based on per child costs and the number of preschoolers in Maine not currently attending a publicly-funded program, the price tag for a state-financed universal program would approach $70 million per year — more than we spend on corrections or veterans. At that rate, it wouldn’t take long for the LePage administration’s budget surpluses to evaporate, leaving taxpayers on the hook.

Beyond their costs, the fact is that universal pre-K programs have a poor track record of success. Gold-standard studies of such programs (those that use randomized research methods to isolate the effects of pre-K from other variables that could influence a child’s performance) find that little to no long-term benefits in academic performance or labor market outcomes. An analysis of several high-quality studies of pre-K from around the country concluded:

“…although preschool programs evaluated by the most rigorous research designs show modest but statistically significant improvements during the preschool years, these gains fade as children move into the kindergarten and first grades. The fadeout might be more accurately described as “catch up,” because the cognitive growth that occurs for all children in the early elementary grades is far greater than the gains during the preschool years, so it may be that children who did not have preschool simply caught up with those who did.”

Analysts have also pointed out the wastefulness of universal programs that provide free services to every child, even those from well-off homes who show no signs of needing remedial preparation for kindergarten.

The original logic of helping disadvantaged children catch up may still be valid, because Head Start–type programs do show modest benefits during the preschool year. However, the proposal to expand preschool to everyone defeats the purpose of closing achievement gaps by giving disadvantaged children a “head start.”

If progressives want to help children in Maine succeed in school and lead productive lives as adults (and who doesn’t?), they should look to other policies. How about expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, a proven way to pull children out of poverty? Or perhaps cut taxes for Maine families, who face one of the heaviest tax burdens in the country, to let parents decide what’s best for their children.

If current indications are accurate, the universal pre-K proposal shaping up in Augusta will be an ineffective, feel-good boondoggle that will leave Maine taxpayers poorer and its children no better educated.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Commentary education Featured Head Start Opinion universal pre-k
Previous ArticleLawsuit seeks to undo exclusion of religious schools from Maine’s school choice program
Next Article Mills calls for solar panels on the Blaine House in inaugural address
Liam Sigaud

Liam Sigaud is a former policy analyst at Maine Policy Institute. A native of Rockland, Maine, he holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of Maine at Augusta and has studied policy analysis and economics at the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine. He can be reached by email at liam.sigaud@maine.edu.

Related Posts

Maine Private School Teacher Was Fired After Criticizing Critical Race Theory and Posting Jordan Peterson Videos

September 25, 2023

Boston University Launches Inquiry into Ibram X. Kendi’s $43 Million Antiracism Center Amid Mass Layoffs, Accusations of Financial Mismanagement

September 22, 2023

Maine Dad Says High School Clinic Sent 17-Year-Old Daughter Home with Secret Baggy of Zoloft, Sicced Child Protective Services on Him For Complaining

September 21, 2023

Leave A Reply

Recent News

Chinese Foreign Nationals Entering U.S. Illegally at Record Levels

September 25, 2023

Maine Private School Teacher Was Fired After Criticizing Critical Race Theory and Posting Jordan Peterson Videos

September 25, 2023

Maine on Track for Record Level of Eviction Filings This Year

September 25, 2023

Dem Senator Indicted Over Alleged Bribery Scheme

September 22, 2023

McDonald’s Is Being Sued Over a Spilled Cup of Excessively Hot Coffee — Again

September 22, 2023
Newsletter

News

  • News
  • Campaigns & Elections
  • Opinion & Commentary
  • Media Watch
  • Education
  • Media

Maine Wire

  • About the Maine Wire
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Commentary
  • Complaints
  • Maine Policy Institute

Resources

  • Maine Legislature
  • Legislation Finder
  • Get the Newsletter
  • Maine Wire TV

Facebook Twitter Instagram Steam RSS
  • Post Office Box 7829, Portland, Maine 04112

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Sign In or Register

Welcome Back!

Login below or Register Now.

Lost password?

Register Now!

Already registered? Login.

A password will be e-mailed to you.