Preschool for all

Last year, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio advocated making preschool mandatory for all children. To achieve this goal, New York must make preschool free to everyone. How is this funded? By taxing the rich because they have the funds needed without putting them in crippling debt.

There has been much controversy about the initiative since then, but this is a great stride, and other states should take note to follow with their initiatives. The upper class can afford the best education while the lower class has Head Start, even though the government is cutting back funding. The middle and working classes suffer because they make too much money to get Head Start assistance, but do not make enough to afford preschool.

There are many benefits to making preschool mandatory. Research has shown that children who attend preschool are more likely to achieve a higher education and acquire jobs that pay more money. It also develops cognitive skills that will help them succeed in all areas of life. There is also evidence that they will be less likely to commit crimes, meaning the crime rate would go down.

With all the benefits, it would be foolish not to support a program that would send all children to preschool for free. It would cost less to support this program now than to let things stay the way they are.

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 8:49 PM with the headline "Preschool for all."