Do you think pre school should be available for all children, not just low income?

Question

Here in Texas only children that are low income or that have disabilities can go.

Answer 1

Yes, children of all ages need to experience social groupings before they enter school....the earlier they learn how to socialize, the better the transition will be thru life!

Answer 2

In a public school you will need a teacher certification - which will require a BA and student teaching. During student teaching you will receive no income for 16 weeks unless you work nights (VERY difficult during student teaching). States offer different options for the certification. Some offer Early Childhood Ed which is birth through age 8 (third grade) that would let you teach K, but some only offer Elementary (K-6). Both are different than the degree in Child & Family Development that many schools offer. While it also trains you to work with young children, it does NOT certify you to teach above preschool.

Another option is to find out if any of your local public schools offer a preschool program on-site. Its a growing trend and many schools are piloting preschool programs. Not sure if they would require you to be degreed or certified, but you get the same benefits as a public school teacher and would most likely earn quite a bit more than you do now.

I would suggest contacting a school and asking to "shadow" a K teacher for a day to see what a typical work day is like. Mention to them that you work in early childhood ed as a preschool teacher and are considering pursuing teacher certification. I assume that you are required by your preschool to have a criminal background check and TB test on file. You might mention this to them as their volunteers & employees must have these.

Also, some larger preschools offer tuition reimbursement for teachers intending to become degreed or certified. If yours does not, there are also several scholarships from ECE professional organizations at the state and national level that might help you with the financial aspect of continued schooling. Best of luck!

Answer 3

yes, I am here in Texas also, just moved from Connecticut last year, and my 4 year old son was enrolled at a public school preschool, however when we got here, we found out it isn't available unless he can't speak English or is very poor....Now we are stuck paying for a place that calls themselves a preschool, but is nothing more than glorified day care....I also found out that he won't be able to start Kinder until next year, even though he will be 5 in November, in CT you can start at 4 if you will be 5 before Jan. 1st.....not sure why the system here is so different. The other thing that bothers me about TX is the school hours, my oldest son is now going to school for an hour longer every day than in CT, elementry school doesn't start until 9am there and gets out at 3pm, here they start at 8am and still get out at 3pm, it's a long day for a 6 year old...

Answer 4

The only preschool the govt. pays for is Head Start. Otherwise low income families can get subsidies for other preschools that pay part of the fee's. The reason they only do it for low income people is b/c supposedly the rest of us can afford it. I find it hard to believe there are no other preschools in Texas.

Answer 5

I'm in Texas, and preschool IS available for all children. Do you mean free preschool? Also, regarding the person who said her child attended one which was no better than day care: find another, surely there are more than one in your town. My daughter went to one which was the same, so I changed to a different one. And we are in a small city. She is in 4th now and in a talented/gifted class in public school. Most private schools here also have something I never heard of in California: 4K which is for 4 year olds. Call your local school district office for a list of preschools.

Answer 6

Absolutely, Education should be available to everyone. Not just low or high income. Not to mention the social skills small children gain from pre-school, those are priceless.

Answer 7

Thats the same way here in Kentucky. I couldn't get my daughter in because we made $200 more than the cut off and if I did I had to drive her 50 miles to a school with an opening, or she had to ride a bus with High School Students. So I said the hell with it and taught her at home.

And this was through public schools, our tax dollars should pay for this. I couldn't afford an outside preschool, they are expensive.

Answer 8

It REALLY depends on the quality of the preschool, meaning how good is the instruction and perhaps more important how are the students who attend. If you are worried about some negative behaviors being learned look into a better preschool, if none exists have him stay home and start doing preschool like activities at home.

Answer 9

Here in California there are both public and private preschools. And then there's head start which is for low income.

Answer 10

really? Where I'm from anyone and everyone can go. They have a certain preschool for those that are from low income families but they also have a preschool for those who aren't.