quality, continuity, and logistical advantage for all students. In the United States, education is designed to be available to all citizens, and one of the purposes of education is to provide equal opportunity to all citizens, an important tenet of a democratic society. Schools have an understandable vested interest in children learning skills that will enable them to do well in later grades. Most parents and educators agree on the need for children to enter formal education as early as possible, but there is not agreement on the best type of education for the early years (Pierson, 1991, p. 26).
Those who consider the continuity factors cite studies that indicate that children who attend preschool in the public school setting and continue in the same school tend to view school more positively and have less anxiety than those who enter the public school at a later age. Continuity provides advantages for the parents too, as they establish on-going relationships with the administration and teachers of the public school.
The public schools are well-established as the delivery system for programs for children. The buildings are already there. The school has an established relationship with other community agencies, and to a large extent, the school has taken on the role of coordinating agency for the education of children with disabilities since the passage of P.L. 99-457. The public schools are in a strong position to maintain a stable, well-paid staff, and the promise of reasonable salaries tends to attract the highest qualified teachers (Pierson, 1991, p. 28).
Not everyone is in favor of public school programs for three and four-year-old children. Some are concerned that the content of the curricula and the process of teaching these young children will simply try to copy that that exists in the elementary grades. Elementary teachers and early childhood teachers often have dramatically opposing ideas concerning how chi...