March 24, 2009 8:32AM 

# Monday Podcast: ‘The Push for Universal Pre‑K’ 

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The evidence is weak that Pre‑K education improves the long-term prospects of public school kids, says Adam Schaeffer, Cato education policy analyst.

In Monday’s [Cato Daily Podcast](https://www.cato.org/dailypodcast/podcast-archive.php?podcast_id=859), Schaeffer explains why the push for universal preschool is really all about money, monopoly and misdirection:

> The scale problem is a massive one and they haven’t really addressed it. State programs run into these problems as well. As they scale up the program, we see that there is no overall change in outcomes for the children in the state. Their test scores don’t go up.

##### Related Tags 

[Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) 

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