Let's all just agree that the names for the Health Insurance and Pre-School initiatives are political branding, and have nothing to do with really covering expenses "for all". That will save us considerable time and effort.
Now, with regard to the 10,000 or so 3 and 4 year old children proposed to be "guaranteed" pre-school the first year, wouldn't it just make a lot more sense to mandate attendance for 5 or 6 year olds at kindergarten? Illinois doesn't require schooling until a child reaches 7 years old!
Illinois also keeps no statistics what-so-ever on what age children do start kindergarten nor how many skip straight to first grade!
Thus, aren't we putting the cart a bit before the horse with a pre-school initiative? Of course, "Kindergarten for all" just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?
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