LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Pre-K funding no guarantee

FOR SEVERAL years we’ve seen a well-financed campaign to tap the state’s permanent funds for early childhood education. This has become a standard talking point for many New Mexico politicians, a sort of magic bullet that will stimulate the economy and reduce crime.

Now we find that the state’s existing pre-K program competes with the federal Head Start program, according to (a Searchlight New Mexico article published in the Journal) Jan. 21. The system is so inefficient that Head Start funds actually are being returned to the federal government.

This puts the early childhood education campaign into a new perspective. So far the initiative has been all about the money: winning voter approval to tap the permanent fund to “invest” in a state prekindergarten program. We have not seen a coherent plan for what will happen once the state gets its hands on that loot.

Going for the money first is a familiar tactic. Bernalillo County raised taxes two years ago for a mental health program that has yet to materialize. The early childhood education campaign is following the same pattern.

Proponents have made vague references to home visits, asking the Legislature to come up with a plan, or adding pre-K to our mixed bag of school districts. No one has presented a substantive proposal for how an early childhood education program will work, how it will be managed and who will be accountable for results. Nor is there any assurance that a statewide program will actually reach underprivileged families whose kids are chronically absent from school.

There’s no question that a well-managed early childhood education program will help New Mexico. But proponents do not appear to have a plan, and we now know the state can’t even incorporate federal Head Start resources into its existing program. So why should voters believe that raiding the permanent fund will deliver a pre-K program that actually works?

JAMES A. MCCLURE Albuquerque