Dina Drogin ‘23, Commentary Writer 

There is an academic gap between the rich and poor. Simply put, kids from privileged backgrounds have more opportunities for education than low-income children. Teachers are able to recognize this socioeconomic distinction on the first day of kindergarten: Who knows their ABCs? Who can do basic addition? Who has been taught how to “share” and “take turns?” Children are socially divided by who had been sent to preschool and who had not. Throughout school, children who did not attend preschool may be left with a feeling that they are less intelligent. To give everyone an equal opportunity to succeed, there needs to be free, public preschool throughout the country. 

In 1965, California was one of the first states to provide state-funded preschool education, introducing the State Preschool Program (SPP). It was created to provide services to children who were at risk for abuse, neglect, or family violence. Many other states on the West Coast followed suit. In 2017, Mayor de Blasio announced that New York City will offer free preschool for all three-year-olds. This is a step in the right direction, but free public preschool is still not offered in many areas of the country. 

It is hard to convince residents and voters to pay higher taxes for public preschools; however, it is not impossible. In 2014, Seattle raised property taxes and generated 58 million dollars for public preschool. An article from Truthout states, “By the 2017-2018 school year, students in the Seattle Preschool Program had made significant gains on vocabulary, literacy, and math tests at the start and end of the school year.” At that time, 68.5% of Seattle voted to continue to pay the extra money to fund more preschools. Universal preschool affects more than just children’s education. Poor parents do not have to pay for child care while their children are in preschool. Child care costs $4,000-$25,000 annually. Thirty percent of all high-school dropouts are from low-income families. Without feeling disadvantaged from the start of their education, kids will be stronger students, leading more of them to finish high school, get college degrees and jobs, and then become tax payers as well. 

A record number of children were enrolled in preschool this past year. According to a PBS report, 32% of four year olds and 5% percent of three year olds went to preschool. Though many people choose not to send their child to preschool, others do not have the opportunity to make that decision.

There is no doubt that the United States is making great strides in trying to offer free education. There are currently 83 free preschools in Newark, the most out of any city in New Jersey. East Orange has 11 schools; Jersey City has 10. In these areas, free preschool is offered to all three and four year old kids. 6,821 children utilize the free education in Newark. Their school also provides free food during the day. It is inspiring to see the amount of work and care put into improving opportunities for children whose parents cannot afford preschool. With that being said, there is still some work to be done, and the government needs to continue to make an effort to provide free preschools for young children.