Glenn Grothman: wrong for cutting off pre-schoolers at the knees.

Hi folks,

Glenn's been busy while I was grading final exams the past few weeks. First he goes on record in favor of making it easier for rapists to impregnate their victims and now he's going after pre-schoolers.

How are these kids supposed to run the economy when they got no knees?

All this looks like a tea cup only when you don't think about the economic implications of doing nothing.

But first, this:

From The Sheboygan Press:

Pre-kindergarten gains strong support
One state senator says it's just baby-sitting

By Doug Carroll
Sheboygan Press staff

[...]

Proponents say that 4K builds an important foundation for learning.

"The benefits are indisputable," said Elizabeth Burmaster, state superintendent of public instruction. "Early learning experiences through quality 4K programs are among the best steps schools and communities can take in formal education.

"Our goal is to provide quality 4K access for every child."

However, not everyone sees it that way. Last week in Plymouth, about 150 residents packed a school-board meeting to which State Sen. Glenn Grothman, an outspoken critic of 4K, had been invited by two board members. Grothman, a West Bend Republican whose district covers southern Sheboygan County, and some others insist that 4K is little more than a state-subsidized baby-sitting service and that any academic advantages fade by the time children are 7 or 8 years old.

It always helps when you know what you're talking about.

I just Googled up a swamp full of data and longitudinal studies by universities and the Federal Government Accounting Office.


The National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University has been keeping track of 5 states worth of pre-K education. They've noted good results.

The state of Tennessee thinks it's a great idea and the GAO's data from Oklahoma and Georgia suggest we might think about ramping up as well.

Maybe Glenn doesn't want our pre-schooler students to be as well prepared as they are in Tennessee, Oklahoma, or Georgia.

Maybe he wants us to be the new Oakies, migrating with our cows across the dustbowl of Midwestern manufacturing, hoping for a better life in Georgia.

His voting record demonstrates he sure doesn't want our university students to be prepared for the future -- or the growing tsunami of Wisconsin's returning adult students who have to head back to school to pick up the education they'll need to compete in a global economy.

By the way, why is it that so many of his constituents, and my neighbors, keep voting against their own economic self-interest by voting for Glenn?

hiho
Mpeterson