Obama: Preschool programs are worth the investment

President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks at the Decatur Recreation Center in Decatur, Ga., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013 in Decatur, Ga., about his plans for early childhood education, this following his State of the Union address. / AP Photo/John Bazemore

Washington is about to be hit with a massive set of spending cuts that would curtail spending in education, but President Obama nevertheless traveled to Georgia today to make the case that early childhood education is a worthwhile investment.

"We need to make smart choices as a country, by cutting what we don't need but then by investing in the things we do need," Mr. Obama said in Decatur, Ga., after touring the College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center. "We need to make sure we've got shared responsibility for giving every American the chance to earn the skills and education they need for a competitive global job market."

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Obama: Washington could learn a lot from preschoolers

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Obama: Washington could learn a lot from preschoolers

"The earlier a child begins learning, the better he does down the road," he added. "We are not doing enough to give all of our kids that chance."

While the White House is calling for these new investments, it's also urging Congress to delay and eventually avert the so-called "sequester," which refers to a series of broad automatic spending cuts set to go into effect next month. The sequester would cut $1.2 trillion in government spending over 10 years.

If it goes into full effect, according to the White House, 14,000 Head Start workers could be laid off and 1.2 million students from low-income families would have their schools' funding cut.

The president needled Congress about the partisanship that has contributed to the repeated legislative hang-ups lawmakers have faced in recent years. "That whole playing well with others, by the way, is a trait we could use in Washington," Mr. Obama quipped. "Maybe we need to bring the teachers up. Every once in a while, have some quiet time. Time out."

As Mr. Obama said during his State of the Union address this week, he is proposing a plan to make preschool universally available with a new federal-state partnership for low- and moderate-income four-year-olds. He's also calling for greater investments in Head Start and encouraging states to expand full-day kindergarten.

The president has said his proposal won't add to the deficit, and he is expected to lay out the financial details next month in his proposed 2014 budget.

Before delivering his remarks, Mr. Obama joined a classroom of 16 children between the ages of four and five at the College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center. The president joined the kids as they played with items like blocks and a magnifying glass. One boy told him, "Welcome, Mr. President," while another child remarked, "I saw you on TV."

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Afterwards, Mr. Obama praised the educators at the center, saying, "You've combined kids with different income levels, you've got disabled kids in the same classroom, so we're all learning together. All the kids are being leveled up, and you're not seeing some of that same stratification that you see that leads to these massive achievement gaps."

He noted that if a child starts school a step behind, they'll start "pulling back, and they act like they're disinterested because they're frustrated they're not doing as well as they should."

Mr. Obama said that every dollar invested in high-quality early education will have $7 later on. His administration has also pointed out that such investments have bipartisan support.

"States like Georgia and Oklahoma, which are states run by Republican governors, and routinely vote for Republican presidential candidates, by the way, have made important investments in the programs," White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said today. "So there's no reason it should get bogged down in partisan politics."

[whaas2]

I estimate that the money that the federal government is borrowing today will end up costing the tax payers 10 times the amount borrowed to repay over the next 170 years. So if a mythical 7 times return on investment is expected, since the federal government has to borrow the money to do this then for the tax payers this is a loosing proposition. Preschools are a local matter and should be decided upon by local tax payers. Since local jursdictions are in much better financial shape then the federal government it is far less expensive for them to borrow the money then the federal government.

[whaas2]

In 2012 the federal government spend more than 900 billion dollars more than the President said that it would. The federal government is being run with huge losses each year. We just cannot keep doing this. Ok Mr. President, then lets take all federal education funds and invest them in preschools instead of colleges and job training programs. Instead of all the money that is going into health care, let us divert it to preschools. Let congress pass a 10% national sales tax and a 10% before deductions income tax with all of the money to be used for preschools.

[highlndr55]

It has been proven that Head Start does not work. What is needed is for parent(s) to work with their child before they go to Kindergarten. If students can not read before they go to school they are at a great disadvantage. It does not matter how many parents a child has. It is the parents RESPONSIBILITY to prepare the child to start school.

[anebt]

Nice distraction. Care about everything except the very reason voters voted for you the first time: Jobs. Not part time, low-wage ones, but careers.
That you have not delivered on.

3 million more voters voted to give you a second chance to get a robust Reagan/Clinton type recovery, and you're blowing even that.

[realtimecoffee]

Where is the proof that this even works? Have graduation rates and test scores improved since this started, or is it just free babysitting? Haven't scores and grad rates fallen during the last 30 years? That's what I keep hearing, how we are falling behind the world.

[highlndr55]

There are a couple of reasons that appear to be falling behind. We have to try and educate every child, even the ones who could care less about education. Other countries weed out those students and put them to work or send them to trade school. Only their best get a secondary education and then come here for college. Test scores are another problem. They have stunted the education of students because they do not allow for teaching material indepth. Teachers only get to teach snippets before they have to move on the another snippet. Lastly, graduation rates are counted differently than they used to be. When a student transfer into a school during the 12 grade and drops out it counts against the school he transfer to. Only Standard and Higher Diplomas count toward graduation now. GED, Modified Diplomas count as Dropouts.

[realtimecoffee]

Thanks, great response re our Ed system in general. Doesn't really answer the preschool question though.

[peter_out]

We aren't actually paying for $1.4 Trillion worth of what we want, we're borrowing to pay.

The sequestration represents a chance to both begin cutting borrowing and to begin cutting spending money borrowed from China and others to pay bills. Adding a program like pre-K is a good investment, but it is unwise to continue borrowing from China in order to invest.

If every single taxpayer from the very poor to the very rich gets a tax bill DOUBLE what they paid last year, it still is not enough money to stop all the borrowing from China needed to pay bills on the books now, let alone new bills for adding another big line item like the President's proposed pre-K program.

Suppose we TRIPLE taxes for everybody from the very poor to the ultra rich? Now, that would be enough to not borrow more from China this year to pay bills, to have a nestegg for the next natural disaster like Storm Sandy, to perhaps add a new program for pre-K education, and even have a little to begin paying down the $16.45 Trillion debt.

So come on. If all people pay TRIPLE we can do this thing! Social Security and Disability need not go up, just Revenue Tax needs to go up. People like me who pay $12 Thousand a year in revenue tax simply pay $36 Thousand. And so on, and so forth.

We can support our President with our wallets, if we want.

[ccb5508]

what is obama going to tell a pre schooler after they build a house with blocks...."you didn't build that"??

[whaas2]

There is no reason why the President has to travel to Georga to talk about preschool. It is a big waste of time and money and adds more CO2 to the atmosphere. It would be a lot cheaper just to forget about pre school and start kids in kindegarten a year sooner so they can graduate from high school or trade school a year sooner. Following what the President is saying it would be best to take babies from their mothers and start them in school as soon as they are born. Preschool for all sounds great but who is going to pay for it? For this idea to not add one dime to the deficit then the federal government cannot spend anything on or related to it. We do not have the money!

[kcreligion]

Nothing replaces having two parents in the home. The unfortunate but true case for most poor kids. Until the morals of society insist that parents raise their kids together they will most likely continue to fail. Take away the chuch in additon and you will very likely find a new gang member.
Family values and religion have kept hundreds of millions safe and out of trouble.

[dionysusBeer]

And if one parent dies? Does the parent have to marry some random person? What if the father is abusive? As for religion, it hasn't done a good job of preventing violence.

[bilrobi1]

What makes you think that rich and middle class families don't have one parent households?

[Uneed2BWeened]

If we want kids to be real smart: they can change their name, move to Asia, then once they get a solid non-American foundation, they can move back change their name back, and do very well.