We know many of our students are academically under-prepared no matter the grade level. We know there are many problems with the public education system. There are many politicians or people who have never spent a day in their lives working with children who offer “solutions” to these problems, but I want to know what you as professional educators think are some of the possible solutions to some of the issues the public school systems face.
Personally, in my dream world, I think one possible solution would be to offer free, full-day, pre-K to children in all communities (including low-income and middle class communities) starting at the age of 2 or 3. This would be different than day care where someone basically babysits the kids. Instead children would have quality early interventions they need starting from a young age so when it comes time to enter kindergarten, they would be better academically prepared for their K-12 education. This might also close the vocabulary gap and would alleviate stress to parents who basically end up working just to pay for childcare. What are your thoughts?