Tennessee blogger Bill Hobbs has an excellent summary of a report concerning the effectiveness of pre-kindergarten programs being pushed by Phil Bredesen, the Democrat Governor there. Gov. Bredesen wants to add $25 million to the program, and, as Bill Hobbs has helpfully pointed out, this is on top of the $55 million the State of Tennessee has already spent on some 17,000 students. (See the comments section.) In other words, that’s over $3,200 per student, more than the average in affluent areas of Nashville or, for that matter, Fairfax County, Virginia.
Here is Bill’s money quote:
The study, funded by the Tennessee Department of Education and the Tennessee State Comptroller's Office of Education Accountability, shows that pre-K education does not help white girls and actually hurts white and minority boys. It helps only minority girls.
Tell you what: How about establishing a voucher program so parents can decide what is best for their children? Heck, let’s do that for all school-aged kids!
Now various bloggers (particularly Jerry) have pointed to the large amounts of money Virginia’s own Gov. Tim Kaine wants to spent on pre-K programs, on the order of $75 million (and more than $5,000 per child). Maybe he should take heed of what already hasn’t worked effectively next door!
Excessive spending for ineffective (or even harmful) government social programs. No wonder these clowns get mentioned as potential running mates for Senators Clinton and Obama!
