More Americans supporting federal money for universal pre-K schooling
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New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, right, visits with pre-kindergarten students at the Inner Force Tots early childhood learning center in Brooklyn. It is the first day of the mayor's ambitious expansion of early childhood education. (AP Photo/The Daily News, Theodore Parisienne, Pool)
New York City welcomed public school children back to the classroom this week, including, for the first time, 50,000 4-year-olds in free universal pre-kindergarten. Yes, free. And that’s in the Big Apple, where early education is the most expensive in the nation. We learn more with Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll.
Free universal pre-K is something President Obama and other Democratic leaders have championed for years, and now it’s something even GOP candidates in southern states are beginning to adopt as part of their platforms. New results show that, although Americans don’t agree that pre-K is the most important part of a child’s education — that is reserved for high school (not college) — there is strong support for the concept of spending federal money for pre-K programs.
Gallup found that American have become more positive about American business since bottoming out during the recession in 2008. What business sectors do Americans particularly like? The restaurant and computer industries top the list. Banking, real estate and automobile sectors in particular have recovered a lot of lost ground. The oil and gas industry and the legal profession are very near the bottom. At the very bottom: the federal government
American workers continue to report more positive news about hiring at their places of employment. Government hiring, particularly at the state level, is up more than private sector hiring. In the District of Columbia, places of employment are booming with new hires. New Mexico is at the bottom, with Connecticut, Alaska, Vermont and Maine not far ahead. Delaware is better off than Pennsylvsania in terms of hiring. Pennsylvania a few points below average, and New Jersey is a point below Pennsylvania.
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