2-News
10 — Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MADELYN VERVAECKE | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT MIVERVAE@UMICH.EDU
“
Poor kids are just as
bright ... as white kids.”
When Joe Biden made
this gaffe on Aug. 9, 2019, in
response to a question about
his education policy, I felt
my skin crawl. While I think
this was a genuine mistake in
word choice, Biden’s comment
had real resonance because it
reflects an America where
your race and socioeconomic
status are inextricably linked.
Since schools are largely
funded
through
property
taxes,
many
majority-
minority
urban
areas,
especially Black and Hispanic
ones, tend to have lower-
quality
schools
and
more
financial
hardship,
which
decreases
their
likelihood
to obtain a postsecondary
degree. This is a major reason
why 54% of associate’s degrees
and 63% of bachelor’s degrees
conferred in 2018 belong to
white graduates, while 36% of
associate’s degrees and 25% of
bachelor’s degrees belong to
Hispanic and Black graduates
combined.
However,
attainment
disparities do not only fall
on
racial
lines.
Regional
factors, especially the rural-
urban divide, exacerbate the
opportunity gap. As of 2015,
16.7% of rural families lived
in
poverty
and
therefore
experience
increased
hardship in attending college.
Thus Michigan, a state with
significant
proportions
of
urban
Black
communities
(13.4%)
and
rural
white
communities
(24.1%),
has
many institutional barriers
for its citizens to attend
college, contributing to only
44% of Michiganders between
ages 16 and 64 having a
postsecondary
degree
or
equivalent certificate as of
2016.
Enter
Gov.
Gretchen
Whitmer. In her State of
the State address on Feb.
12, 2019, she announced the
MI Opportunity Initiative,
which seeks to increase the
percentage of Michiganders
with a postsecondary degree
to 60% by 2030. One of the
main methods of her three-
pronged approach is the MI
Opportunity
Scholarship,
which
guarantees
every
Michigan
graduating
high
schooler two years of free
tuition at any community
college in the state, regardless
of means. It also provides
a two-year scholarship of
$2,500 per year to any public
or private non-profit four-
year university in Michigan,
provided that the student
averaged at least a 3.0-grade
point average and is from a
household making less than
$80,000 per year.
This
policy
is
modeled
off of the Oregon Promise
and
Tennessee
Promise
scholarship
programs,
which
both
guarantee
free community college to
graduating high schoolers, and
their success signals that the
MI Opportunity Scholarship
could have similar success
in
increasing
enrollment
at
community
colleges.
According to Gov. Whitmer,
the
target
population
is
Michigan adults as a whole,
so the scholarship will likely
serve that population well
since the Oregon Promise
increased
across-the-board
enrollment between 4% and
5% at community colleges.
Similarly, the Tennessee
Promise increased enrollment
4% in its first year and
sustained that rate in the
following year. Additionally,
the Tennessee Promise shows
an increase, albeit small, in
enrollment
for
minorities.
While they are not the stated
targets of this scholarship
program,
increasing
the
attendance of minority and
rural
students
should
be
of
paramount
importance
to
lawmakers,
and
these
programs alone do not seem
to accomplish this goal to a
large extent.
Economically,
the
MI
Opportunity
Scholarship
will cost $80 million to $100
million, but the upfront cost
will be offset by the future
economic benefits of having
more educated professionals
in
the
state.
These
professionals will be paying
more
taxes
because
they
make larger sums of money
and they will stimulate the
economy because of more
entrepreneurship, disposable
income
and
community
involvement.
This
benefit
may
be
deferred,
but
it
ultimately
mitigates
the
upfront costs.
The most salient argument
against this policy is that
political support is going to be
difficult to gather in the state
legislature, especially when
Democrats
control
every
statewide elected office while
the Republicans control both
houses of the legislature. This
legislature has already made
life exceedingly difficult for
Whitmer’s
administration,
having
blocked
her
environmental
executive
order and bringing the state
to the brink of a government
shutdown in her first year in
office.
This partisan environment
is not particularly conducive
to
deal-cutting,
but
this
bill could garner bipartisan
support in the near future,
taking
inspiration
from
the
Tennessee
Promise
program, which was passed
by a Republican legislature
with
bipartisan
support
and signed by a Republican
governor. If Gov. Whitmer
and the Democrats make this
a chief legislative priority,
they
could
likely
bring
Republicans along, because
everyone should be able to
agree on educating our state’s
children. It is just a question
of expending political capital
to pass the policy.
Now, while I recognize
that
the
MI
Opportunity
Scholarship has perils, it is
nevertheless a step in the right
direction toward mitigating
harmful impacts of economic
inequality
and
increasing
educational
achievement
across the board.
If
this
law
passes,
Michiganders
will
see
the positive effects in the
foreseeable
future,
which
will make it easier to pass
legislation further expanding
funding
for
community
colleges
and
incentivizing
achievement
in
four-year
programs. These laws can
finally help Michigan close
the opportunity gap, because
all kids really do deserve just
as much of a chance as the
white kids.
Whitmer is fighting to
create more opportunities
for Michiganders
KEITH JOHNSTONE | COLUMNIST
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Keith Johnstone can be reached at
keithja@umich.edu.
JULIAN BARNARD | COLUMNIST
Don’t let Biden forget about universal pre-k
I
n the wake of a contentious
“culture war” election, it is
easy for important policy
promises to be forgotten. Much
of President-elect Joe Biden’s
appeal to many of his supporters
was that he is not Donald Trump.
Still, Biden came with his own
array of policy promises. Some of
them were simple and required no
apparent capital investment, such
as Biden’s promise that his team
will lead with “science and truth.”
Many of the president-elect’s
proposals, however, will require
significant capital investments
and political will.
Biden’s promise of providing
universal
prekindergarten
for
all 3 and 4-year-olds falls in
the latter category. A universal
preschool program would be
highly beneficial to American
families; it offers lifelong skills,
an immense societal benefit and
dramatic financial opportunities
for parents. Unfortunately, this is
a promise that may be obscured
by
other,
more
politically
advantageous issues.
To understand the importance
of a universal prekindergarten
program, we must understand
how many of our preschool-aged
children are currently enrolled
in
prekindergarten
programs.
As of 2018, only 68% of 4-year-
olds and 40% of 3-year-olds
were enrolled in some sort of
pre-primary program. These are
worryingly low metrics and leave
the United States far behind other
developed nations. Less than 70%
of Americans between 3 and 5
years old were enrolled in some
sort of pre-elementary program,
compared to over 90% of children
in France, Israel, Germany and
11 other countries in the same
age group. This disparity could
have significant consequences
for
America’s
place
in
the
international order. Biden himself
has claimed, “Any country that
out-educates us is going to out-
compete us.”
Many children are deprived of
a preschool education because of
the cost — the median yearly price
of child care in the U.S. has been
calculated to be approximately
$8,320. For a family living below
the federal poverty line, up to a
fifth of a family’s yearly income
can be consumed through child
care expenses. The benefits of
universal preschool are not only
present for the poorest Americans
— child care costs consume
between 7% to 12% of a family’s
income for most middle-class
Americans as well.
The
benefits
of
preschool
programs for 3 and 4-year-olds
are significant. Children who are
enrolled in preschool programs
have been observed to repeat
grades significantly less often,
enroll in more honors classes and
score better on standardized tests.
The prevailing theory for why
preschool is so important is that
it offers an extra opportunity for
children to become accustomed
to the school environment while
receiving beneficial stimulation
at the same time. These gains are
much harder to make up later in a
student’s education.
Aside from the developmental
advantages a preschool education
confers, universal pre-K also has
economic benefits for the people
who are not sitting in those
little plastic seats: the parents.
When preschool is taken care
of for parents, they have greater
freedom to fully participate in
the American labor market. In
Michigan alone, there are over
49,000 parents who had to quit
their jobs or make significant
cutbacks in participation because
of child care problems, according
to a 2016 survey. Losing this
many workers has real economic
implications. Over 49,000 fewer
workers means that there are
fewer people who are able to
contribute to the economy in the
forms of manufacturing capacity,
a healthy labor market, state tax
revenues and more.
There is also the matter of
efficiency. Researchers estimated
that every dollar spent on the
city’s near-universal preschool
yielded about two dollars worth of
societal benefits. The development
of self-regulation skills during the
ages of 3 to 5 is crucial and is more
costly to compensate for later
in life. In the midst of economic
calamity, and with an enormous
federal deficit, it is a critical time
to invest in policies that pay for
themselves several times over and
lay the foundation for a stronger
next generation of Americans.
Michiganders
in
particular
should
be
at
the
frontlines
of
advocating
for
universal
preschool.
Many
educators
and legislators look fondly on
Michigan’s Great Start Readiness
Program, which has provided for
the second year of kindergarten
for many Michigan children.
Michigan has seen the benefits
for educating most of their
4-year-olds, but the end goal
for preschool education should
still be to provide for all 3 to
5-year-olds. While Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer is pushing for universal
preschool for 4-year-olds by the
end of her term, Michiganders
will still benefit from a broader,
federal approach to universal
preschool.
Biden and his administration
may need an additional push to
put universal pre-K front and
center. Neither Biden nor Vice
President-elect Kamala Harris
have tweeted (an arbitrary but
still important metric) on the
topic of universal preschool since
July 2020. This topic has been
obscured by many meritorious
causes, but nonetheless should not
be overlooked.
Since the President-elect and
Vice President-elect’s tweets last
summer, the weakness of our
nation’s child care infrastructure
has been highlighted as millions
of students fall behind in math,
reading, etc. However, a president
has a limited number of things
that they can achieve. Though
Biden comes into office with
a clear mandate to captain a
systemic recovery, his political
purse nonetheless has a bottom.
Former
President
Barack
Obama,
for
instance,
was
very interested in expanding
preschool, yet was met with a
stony face from an unenthusiastic
Congress. Biden will have a
much
better
opportunity
to
affect change in pre-elementary
education — unlike during the
Obama years, universal preschool
has many ardent supporters in
Congress, such as U.S. Rep. Rosa
DeLauro, D-CT, the chair of the
powerful House Appropriations
subcommittee.
Universal preschool has been
demonstrated as a sound policy
that will save Americans money
in the long run while caring for
our nation’s children. Even with
Democratic control of both the
House of Representatives and
the Senate, universal preschool
legislation is unlikely to be
enacted in the absence of strong,
focused leadership. It will take
passion from both the right and
the left to ensure, amidst the
ocean of change Biden hopes to
enact, that this policy will stay in
the spotlight.
Design by Lauren Kuzee
Julian Barnard can be reached at
jcbarn@umich.edu.