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long-term effects on the cognitive, social, or emotional

development of participating children: "In the long run,

cognitive and socioemotional test scores of former Head

Start students do not remain superior to those of disad-

vantaged children who did not attend Head Start."4

Furthermore, evidence shows that middle-class children

stand to gain little, if anything, from early education.

In fact, many child development experts have argued that

formal schooling can actually be harmful to young chil-

dren.  Finally, it is simply irresponsible to expand pub-

lic schools when so many are failing to educate the chil-

dren already enrolled.  For those reasons, legislators

would be wise to reject proposals for universal preschool.

Proposals for Universal Preschool

Proposals for universal preschool vary from state to

state and from person to person.  Advocates of universal

preschool differ on such things as whether preschool

should include infants and toddlers, whether parents should

be charged an income-based fee, whether preschool should

be formal and highly structured or informal and casual,

whether programs should be school based or community-wide,

and whether attendance should be voluntary or compulsory.

Nevertheless, there is general agreement among advocates

that preschool programs should be made available, at a

minimum, to all three- and four-year-olds regardless of

family income.

Universal preschool plans are not aimed solely at

children who have traditionally been labeled "disadvan-

taged"--that is, those from low-income families.5   The

Carnegie Corporation explains, "Make no mistake about it:

underachievement is not a crisis of certain groups: it is

not limited to the poor; it is not a problem afflicting

other people's children.  Many middle- and upper-income

children are also falling behind intellectually."6   As

Sharon L. Kagan, president of the National Association for

the Education of Young Children and senior associate at

the Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy at

Yale University, and Nancy E. Cohen, a graduate student in

the Department of Psychology at the University of

California at Berkeley, put it: "The problems in early

care and education are legion for poor children and fami-

lies, but they impact all young children."7

A majority of preschool proponents claim that such

programs can ensure a child's healthy development.  In

addition, they claim that early schooling can inoculate