RE: Preschool “Return on investment”

In his 5-10 Point of View, D.A. Ramos makes taxpayer-funded preschool out to be a panacea for all of society’s ills. Let me say at the outset that Preschool is a good idea. Parents should invest in positive activities for their kids. Also, kids should get good, healthy meals.

Ramos points out that (according to un-footnoted sources) preschool provides benefits worth $7 to $16 in improvements to society for every dollar spent. $7 to $16 is what is known as a “shotgun” spread , the high end is more than double the low end, meaning that the underlying research is so general as to be unreliable; such as the preposterous ‘climate fraud’ or ‘stimulus jobs’ numbers. I did find his numbers, produced by liberal think tanks or agencies that depend on the tax dollars for their payroll. It is numerical wishful thinking.

The problem with this program is making taxpayers pay for it, in this miserable economy; California unemployment stayed above 11% and INCREASED again last month. Ramos does not mention that taxpayer-funded preschool programs not only include, but actively RECRUIT clients advertizing that "Immigration status does not matter”. That is the phrase on flyers that Head Start and others distribute. He doesn’t point out that 90-passenger school busses (7 MPG) transport 10 or 20 students, who are dropped off and picked up at bus stops by parents driving cars; some with $1,200 dollars worth of 22” wheels. These kids then get free (on the taxpayer) breakfast, lunch and medical checkups. All great for the kids and easy on the parents, but why is it at taxpayer expense, since none of this is educational? I paid for my kids’ preschool, fed them before driving them there and took them to my pediatrician afterward.

To be clear, kids deserve the best they can get. Their parents should provide it. If they can’t, many churches, charities and organizations help out, though increasing taxes and unemployment hurt their donations. Still, I can beat Ramos’ “44% more likely to graduate” and “decreases in crime, welfare and remedial education”.

There are many worthy youth groups, operating at little or no taxpayer expense and run on volunteerism and donations. As a rule, they get no more government help than any citizen/visitor off the street could get by asking for a tour. Here is Boy Scouting’s impact: only 1% ever have any crime involvement, while 4% become Eagle Scouts. Scouts (any rank) account for 85% of Student Body presidents, 71% of football captains, 72% of Rhodes Scholars, 68% of West Point graduates and 26 of the first 29 astronauts . They also have a huge impact on health and fitness.

Parents and private donations pay for this, not taxes, and they are also hurting: the last time BSA could afford this research (mostly school statistics) was over 10 years ago, and the ACLU is constantly suing the “evil” BSA for it’s efforts. Also, California Senate Democrats just denied BSA a commendation for 100 years of service to 110 million boys, and a liberal court recently held that Cities may no longer RENT park space to BSA, though KKK, “the Race” and Socialists may use it.

Ramos celebrates the fact that “California is leading the nation in it’s commitment to after school programs”. We are also leading the charge on state Bankruptcy, and have appealed for federal bailouts. We have seen how well things have gone for the formerly “Golden State”, as Progressive Democrats have built majorities in both houses. In the 1940’s people moved here for opportunity. Now, anyone who can afford to leave gets out while they still have something left. Ramos, up for re-election himself, goes on to praise Schwarzenegger for inflating the preschool budget, and profiles a Progressive platform for candidates in upcoming elections: 'kids should be raised by big government, rather than parents'.

Clearly, this course has not turned out so well. Perhaps we should get back on a "profitable" investment track, instead of throwing good money after bad.