Not only do progressives and educrats want to push government-instituted education down to a younger age, but they want to assess preschool children as well.

Watch for states, like Illinois, to decrease their compulsory age.  This is just another demonstration of “government knows best.  I’m not alone in that assessment.

“This was only a matter of time. I’ve seen rumblings about this from California, so it seems only right Illinois would be the next, since they’re neck-and-neck for most suicidal state in the union,” Joy Pullmann, research fellow with The Heartland Institute and managing editor of School Reform News, told Caffeinated Thoughts.

“This sounds crazy to most people, but it is just the logical extension of the progressive ideology that has become the elevator music of our culture. The choice we have is now clearer: Either parents will be the responsible parties for children, or bureaucrats will. Either education is an ever-expanding network of government orphanages, or it is an enterprise that partners with families in raising the next generation,” Pullmann added.

“Illinois’s plan is in line with the national trend, evidenced by ACT’s plan to create a work skills test for kindergartners,” Jane Robbins, senior fellow with American Principles Project, told Caffeinated Thoughts.  ”The education and corporate elites in this country have truly stepped through the looking glass. The only word for it is madness.”

College and career-readiness is a byproduct of education, not its primary goal, and it certainly doesn’t begin at birth.  The responsibility of education in general, and early education in particular, belongs with parents not the state.

Photo credit: Center for Neighborhood Technology (CC-By-SA 2.0)

Authored by Shane Vander Hart