Excerpt
SUMMARY: Children in Oklahoma don't wait for kindergarten to begin public education; there's preschool for anyone who wants it. While costly, the government program has been hailed for the long-term benefits and has become a national model. Special correspondent Cat Wise reports from Tulsa.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): There’s growing interest in a number of cities and states to try funding universal pre-kindergarten programs.
Philadelphia is the latest city that wants to create one. Oklahoma has long been home to early childhood education that’s widely cited as a model.
Special correspondent Cat Wise reports on how a liberal political priority became popular in a conservative state.
It’s part of our education series on Tuesdays, 'Making the Grade.'
STUDENTS: A is for apple, apple.
CAT WISE (NewsHour): In Oklahoma, the ABCs start before kindergarten.
STUDENTS: D is for dog.
CAT WISE: Children here begin public education at just 4 years of age, some as young as 3. It’s preschool for anyone who wants it, and it costs the state about $7,500 per child per year.
WOMAN: I like all those colors you’re using.
CAT WISE: The program is hailed as a national model by the Obama administration and advocates who believe early education creates long-term benefits.
WOMAN: What color is that one? Very good.
CAT WISE: It’s a costly government program in one of the reddest of red states, but it appears both Democrats and Republicans believe it’s working.
WILLIAM GORMLEY, Georgetown University: It’s not every day that a very conservative state, like Oklahoma, establishes a new social program. It’s not every day that a very poor state like Oklahoma establishes a new social program.
CAT WISE: William Gormley is a professor of public policy at Georgetown University. He has studied Oklahoma’s pre-kindergarten program in Tulsa for 15 years.
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