Should public funding be used to provide early childhood education to Essay

Should public funding be used to provide early childhood education to all children - Essay Example However, this fact notwithstanding, the following analysis will consider the extent to which governmental funding of early childhood education would be a net good or an overall net bad from educational, economic, and societal standpoints. As a function of answering such a broad question, it is the hope of this particular author that the reader will be able to draw a more well rounded answer to a question that would otherwise evoke a rather emotional response from the perspective shareholders within the process as well as the taxpayers that will ultimately be left holding the bill regardless of what particular approach is engaged. By analyzing these determinants, it is the further intention of the author that the pros and cons of such a broad and overarching funding will be made manifest and allow the reader to come away with a rather clear understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of such a system might be. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, one must integrate an understanding and appreciation for the economic constraints that universal government sponsorship of early childhood education would portend. ... As a function of understanding the means by which the United States government ultimately operates, one comes away with the understanding that the elected representatives are responsible to the shareholder citizens with regards to the legislation and proposed budget. In this way, it is easy to see how, regardless of current budgetary shortfalls, a large enough response from the electorate would force the hand of the federal government to act in a way to provide such services to the electorate. Naturally, in doing so, this would have a strong negative impact upon other vital functions of the government, to include many other forms of needed social programs; perhaps Medicaid, Medicare, and/or Social Security funding (Hart 64). As such, it is necessary for the reader/researcher to consider the fact that without exponentially raising tax rates, it will be impossible to seek to add a broad new level of government services without directly robbing from one program to help to pay for anothe r one. From the educational standpoint, the application of universal childhood education can have a massive benefit to the further development of educational standards within the lifetime of the student and can serve to provide a sound basis upon which the educators involved can seek to build. Within the current system, only some shareholders within the student body have the opportunity and/or the means to engage within childhood education. Although this should not be seen as a definitive disadvantage, the fact of the matter is that it provides an unequal footing upon which the first few grades must integrate with the students. A level of basic assumption cannot be provided with relation to what has been covered and what has not. In