Brighter Future for Next Generation: Better Policy Focused on Preschool Education Is Needed

Brighter future for next generation:

Better policy focused on preschool education is needed

Name: Yufei Ren

ID number: X025830

Course number: IAS 150

Professor: Laura Nathan

Date of submission: November. 4th 

Contents

1. INTRODUCTION3

2. THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM4

3. ANALYSIS OF EXISTING PROGRAMS6

   The Oklahoma Program in the United States6

20 Hours ECE in New Zealand9

4. PROGRAM RECOMMENDATION11

   Provide free pre-K education to a specific group of people11

Expand the age range to 3- and 4-year-olds12

    Generalize this updated program to other states13

 Expected objectors and objections13

5. SUMMARY13

APPENDIX A15

APPENDIX B15

APPENDIX C16

APPENDIX D16

APPENDIX E18

APPENDIX F18

REFERENCE19

Introduction

With regard to the policies that exist to alleviate child poverty, most of them focus on “families with dependent children” instead of children themselves, such as helping their parents to get a job or raise parents’ minimum wage etc. It is reasonable because, of course, if their parents get more money, we can have an expectation that they will be responsible to heal their own children out of poverty and welfare dependency. But if so, how can we distinguish the policies that help the child poverty and those help adults? Moreover, it is a complex problem that whether or not we can assume that if we make parents better-off that their children will be as well and how can we make sure that poor children can truly take advantages of those policies that focused on the family as a whole instead of themselves. On the contrary of what we have expected, many parents, especially those irresponsible fathers, would rather spend their wages on drugs and alcohol instead of raising children. (Edin, K, & Kefalas, M.J., 2011) As a result, without proper interventions that can really change the poor children’s miserable situations, child poverty will not be alleviated; that is to say, the cycle of poverty will be continued.