Comments about ‘Districts find youngest students among most absent; parents aren't seeing educational value’

Pre-K is not what it used be!!
"Obama envisions it as a way to close the achievement gap for poor and minority students, improve high school graduation rates and ultimately strengthen the workforce."
If that is really what he wants to do, then instead of 4 year olds he needs to find a way to motivate 14 year olds. Which will translate to more grads. But in his current economy who thinks they can get a job!?! If he wants to strengthen the work force get us some jobs to work!!! Who wants to put in the time & effort (& expense) if they are only going to be stuck at a minimum wage job or welfare?

No, it's not about getting the kids away from their parents at age 4. It's the need for the community (churches, families, friends - NOT government) to teach parents how to raise their children. Read to them, play with them, involve them in your life. Talk to them. Kids who get that kind of parenting will outperform any kid who was put into an institutional situation at an early age.

President Barack Obama's proposal to expand access to preschool a sign of anti-family.

worf would prefer to let the children of the poor eat cake. If you knew what teachers see in the children that come to school, then you would understand why the availability of pre-school is so important. Last year we had a high-school student in my husband's theater program that was failing and risked being ineligible to participate. Why was he failing? The electricity in his home had been disconnected and it was too dark for this formerly good student to see, when he got home. A couple of teachers got together and helped him wash his clothes, get something to eat and one teacher bought battery-powered lanterns so that this boy could study. You can preach all you want about parent responsibility, but its the kids that suffer, waiting for the adults to sort things out. A civilized society sees a child in need and does something about it. For some, caring teachers make the difference between failure and a future. The kid passed. He continued in theater and the school counselor helped connect the parents to services.

Govt. sponsored Pre-K won't fix the problem because the problem is in the homes, the families. It's a feel-good solution like thinking that taking guns away from law-abiding citizens will stop idiots from mass killing.

To "Midwest Mom" according to the federal government's own research they found that their Head Start program made little to no difference by the 3rd grade. The reason why it fails is that it can only replace parents in encouraging kids to do well in school for so long.

This article inadvertently shows that unless the parents care about their child's education their child's education will suffer.