Heritage Foundation says expanding preschool 'undermines civil society'

In a new memorandum released today, The Heritage Foundation looks at a dozen issues which, taken as a whole, "serve to undermine traditional families, devalue life and human dignity, and weaken civil society in American life." One of them involves expanding government-subsidized preschool programs.

A bill moving through the House of Representatives to reform America's higher education system includes the creation of a new $8 billion federal preschool program. The Early Learning Challenge Fund will provide funding for states to expand their government-subsidized preschool programs.

This is grossly unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer dollars considering that more than 83 percent of all four-year-olds are currently enrolled in some form of early education or care program. In addition, research and audit reports have found that two states that had instituted universal preschool (Oklahoma and Georgia) showed little to no improvement in test scores.