English-Language Learners

Pre-K Drops From Republican Platform, School Choice Praised

By Christina A. Samuels — July 19, 2016 1 min read
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A plank criticizing prekindergarten as intrusion into the family dropped from the final Republican platform that was released Monday, along with any other specific reference to early-childhood education.

The Dallas Morning News had reported that a member of the 211-person draft committee wanted to oppose prekindergarten because it “inserts the state in the family relationship in the very early stages of a child’s life.” That language was subject to approval by all the delegates.

Though prekindergarten did not come up for censure, it also was not praised or even mentioned. Nor was child care. The platform did say that “Parents are a child’s first and foremost educators, and have primary responsibility for the education of their children. Parents have a right to direct their children’s education, care, and upbringing. We support a constitutional amendment to protect that right from interference by states, the federal government, or international bodies such as the United Nations.”

And the platform also called for the removal of “structural impediments which progressives throw in the path of poor people,” and listed “needless restrictions on the formation of ... day-care centers” as one of those impediments.

Much of the platform was spent spelling out the virtues of a broad range of educational choices for families. For more details check out this link to the education proposals in the 2016 Republican Party platform by my colleagues over at Politics K-12.


A version of this news article first appeared in the Early Years blog.