Teach the children well... at home...

Ah, if only the State could provide everything, what a wonderful world it would be:

Barack Obama says he believes in universal preschool and if he's elected president he'll pump "billions of dollars into early childhood education." is now second only to Universal preschool universal health care on the liberal policy wish list. Democratic governors across the country -- including in Illinois, Arizona, Massachusetts and Virginia -- have made a major push to fund universal preschool in their states.

But is strapping a backpack on all 4-year-olds and sending them to preschool good for them? Not according to available evidence.

In the last half-century, U.S. preschool attendance has gone up to nearly 70% from 16%. But fourth-grade reading, science, and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) -- the nation's report card -- have remained virtually stagnant since the early 1970s.

What about Head Start, the 40-year-old, federal preschool program for low-income kids? Studies by the Department of Health and Human Services have repeatedly found that although Head Start kids post initial gains on IQ and other cognitive measures, in later years they become indistinguishable from non-Head Start kids. ((the vaunted normative effect of public school "socialization," no doubt... -- Jemison))

Universal daycare isn't so much about raising grades, anyway. Like universal health care, it's mostly about absolving the individual of responsibility--in this case, for raising their own offspring. Public school provides a universal daycare function from age 6 on, but what to do about the crimp those first 6 years can put on one's style? Why, call the government, of course.

Meanwhile, the Enemy knows the sooner he can separate the young from their parents, the more he can toss them about in a world that has no idea where it came from, how it became so troubled, or where it's going. There's a reason parents are given this mandate:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

It's hard to fulfill that mandate when life consists of shuffling the kids off to school, then dropping them off at sports/music/extended daycare, and chatting maybe for 10 minutes over supper before drifting to sleep in front of the Enemy's other favorite tool: television.