One More Reason To Hate Wall Street

Last week, Dave and I took Alexandria off to her preschool orientation.  She was jazzed, and so were we.  She met her teacher, played on the playground, and familiarized herself with the classroom activities.  I would be remiss if I failed to mention snack.  She also ate snack.

While the children acquainted themselves with their new environment, the parents learned what they needed to know, as well.  Due dates of tuition, spaghetti dinner/auction night, the preschool garage sale, and book sale fundraisers topped the list.  The director of the school then mentioned something that disturbed me.  While informing us of the school's "three-month tuition reduction for families in need," she told us that enrollment is down, and that many families who registered initially simply could not afford this year of preschool.  The economy is the culprit again.

I don't pretend to understand economics.  I don't "get" derivatives or securities or any of that.  I understand PeRT and a savings account and an IRA and maybe a bit more, but not much.  But I do know this.  When all the boys on Wall Street slapped each other's backs one too many times, and they all sat and watched the economy tank (the fruit of their handiwork), I'm sure none of them realized that, as a result, group of four year-olds would miss preschool.

According to this article, children who attend preschool score 27% higher in than their counterparts who do not attend preschool, and that a  "good preschool can provide learning opportunities above and beyond what most homes can provide."  As I come from a family of educators, I'm familiar with the stories of the children who arrived on their first day of kindergarten unfamiliar with scissors, crayons, pencils, and markers, who lacked social skills and were unable to work in a group.  Right out of the starting gates, those children are at a disadvantage.  According to that same article, the children who are able to work independently are more likely to experience academic success.

As a person struggling to make ends meet, I understand the awful dilemma of those parents.  There are no more holes in the belt.  It's as tight as it will go.  As somebody floating in the middle class, I feel terribly frustrated.  All the people responsible for this economic quagmire swim in money, and they'll never have to decide whether they can afford preschool.  Their kids are going to get all the advantages that money can buy.  Their kids will likely be rich and successful because that's how the statistics, and the system, work.

But it's the children of the poor and lower middle class who will now bear this particular burden of Wall Street's greed.  A parent may have lost a job.  A mother may decide that health insurance is more important.  They both decide that more expensive rent in a better neighborhood is the best option for their family.  But they can't afford all of it.  So they make choices.  Who would blame them?  All of those options are valid and worthwhile and needed.

What will happen to this generation of children then?  The children whose parents might have been able to bear the sacrifice of preschool tuition before the recession, now, cannot.  So these children may find themselves in kindergarten lacking the ability to work in a group, use scissors, or "think beyond the midline."  The children with preschool experience will move ahead in lessons, while the other children will play catch-up.  For years.  Forever?  Will this divide the classes further?  Will this create a growing population of working poor Americans?  How can we even hope that the next generation will do better than us? 

I guess we'll find out in a couple of decades.

Update: Forbes Magazine just released their Wealthiest Americans list, and guess what?  The collective wealth of those people rose 8% from last year.  Good to know that while the rest of the nation chooses between health care and preschool, they're doing wondering what all the fuss is about.

Update: I just got a phonecall from the preschool director, and she wanted to keep me "in the loop."  Because enrollment is so low, they're combining two classes and letting go of one of the teachers.  Someone is going to lose their job, and it's a horrible decision for her to make.  Thank you, Wall Street.