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children against problems during adolescence and early

adulthood, such as low academic achievement, drug use,

teenage pregnancy, juvenile delinquency, and unemployment.

For example, the California Department of Education's

Universal Preschool Task Force wrote, "Extensive research

in recent years has demonstrated the undeniable influence

of preschool education on children's later success in

school.  When children experience success in school,

numerous other problems, such as dropping out of school,

delinquency, crime, and teenage pregnancy, are prevented."8

Other advocates of universal preschool simply see it

as a way to provide daycare.  For example, Edward F.

Zigler, director of the Bush Center in Child Development

and Social Policy at Yale University and a cofounder of

Head Start, supports universal preschool for three- and

four-year-olds as a school-based approach to child care.9

It is important to note that Zigler has spoken against

mandatory participation, and he has also argued that for-

mal schooling per se may be premature and dangerous for

many young children.  In short, Zigler argues, "Our four-

year-olds do have a place in school, but it is not at a

school desk."10

Still other advocates see universal preschool as having

a dual purpose.  For example, Lisbeth Schorr, director of

the Project on Effective Interventions at Harvard

University, argues that federal-state and public-private

agencies must commit to "first, a universal preschool pro-

gram, providing all 3- and 4-year-olds with access to a set-

ting offering both a high-quality preschool experience and

child care during the hours that parents work . . .[and,

second, a] universal system of supports to ensure that

infants and toddlers get the best possible start on life."11

Many advocates share Schorr's desire to provide uni-

versal preschool or daycare for infants and toddlers.  For

example, in "Not by Chance," Kagan and Cohen write,

"Stated most simply, the `Not By Chance' mission is that

by the year 2010, high-quality early care and education

programs will be available and accessible to all children

from birth to age five whose parents choose to enroll

them."12

Kagan and Cohen conservatively estimate the cost of

such a program at $116 billion a year.13  They arrived at

that estimate by multiplying the number of eligible chil-

dren, 20 million, by the average per child cost of public

education in 1994, $5,800.  Kagan and Cohen say that in

some ways the figure is too high, since not all parents

would enroll their children.  In other ways, however, they