School Choice in Pre-K

Across the country, states are building and expanding early education systems to make pre-kindergarten available to more children and to give parents more high-quality choices in their local communities. Offering pre-k in diverse settings, including private for- and non-profit child care centers, Head Start programs, public schools, and faith-based centers, is a school-choice strategy that Pre-K Now strongly supports.

Such a diverse delivery system is already central to successful pre-k systems in many states, New York and West Virginia in particular. At their best, these systems expand overall pre-k access; allow parents to choose an appropriate environment for their children; work collaboratively with established providers in their own communities; promote quality and accountability across settings; and protect the rights of parents, children, and taxpayers.

The most effective diverse delivery systems contract with local providers on an enrollment basis. In order to receive public funding, private contract providers, like their public counterparts, are required to meet high state quality standards and to satisfy rigorous local and state accountability measures. Some systems offer providers incentive programs, which encourage and, in some cases, financially assist with quality improvements. Contracts also make it possible to include historically high-quality faith-based pre-k programs while ensuring that public dollars are not spent on religious education.

In some states, however, direct-to-parent payments in the form of vouchers, scholarships, or even tax credits, undermine a diverse delivery system's ability to ensure the high-quality pre-k programs that produce important educational gains for young children. These payments are often promoted as vehicles to expand school choice, but they do so without attendant protections for either participating families or taxpaying citizens. When these dollars are not accompanied by standards of quality, accountability measures, or incentives for improvement, there can be no guarantee that they are being spent on effective early education programs. Even when the use of vouchers is limited to providers who are licensed or accredited, the value of the voucher is often too low for parents to purchase the quality their children need. As a result, vouchers give parents no choice but to choose mediocre programs that may have passed minimal licensure requirements but lack the standards that ensure a quality early learning experience.

Voucher programs such as these were originally intended to correct perceived problems with an aging K-12 system. By contrast, most state pre-k systems are still developing. Building quality from the beginning is critical to their continued success. Applying the faulty school-reform strategy of vouchers to these new and burgeoning systems is sure to weaken program quality, undercut accountability, and shortchange children.

When states use strategic, merit-based contracts with community-based and other providers to make publicly funded pre-k available in diverse settings, parents get school choice without sacrificing program quality. When state early education dollars are tied to quality standards and accountability measures, taxpayers get their money's worth. When diverse delivery pre-k systems are built to support quality programs for more children, Pre-K Now believes communities, families, and children all benefit.