Vallas brands Emanuel’s universal preschool program ‘election-year gimmick’

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s four-year plan to phase in full-day preschool for 4-year-olds is a “borderline irresponsible election-year gimmick” born from a “profound misunderstanding” of the achievement gap, mayoral challenger Paul Vallas said Thursday.

“If there’s a silver bullet out there to close the achievement gap, it’s comprehensive prenatal-to-3-years because that’s when more than two-thirds of the brain development occurs,” Vallas said.

“If you really want to make a difference, that’s where you invest. Announcing in year seven that you’re gonna provide universal preschool for 4-year-olds — not realizing the gaps that can be closed, the graduation rates that can be dramatically improved, the repeat pregnancies that can be avoided — I see it as an election-year gimmick. It’s too little, too late.”

Instead of earmarking $175 million in unsecured state funding for preschool for 4-year-olds, Vallas proposed spending a “fraction” of that amount on a universal “Cradle-to-the-Classroom” program.

Vallas pioneered the concept during his tenure as Chicago Public Schools CEO and duplicated it in other cities. It’s grounded in the notion that the majority of brain development occurs during the prenatal period through the third year of a child’s life, so that’s where the focus needs to be.

The program would begin by identifying all pregnant teens in Chicago, assigning each a “parent coach” and providing universal prenatal care to make certain the babies are born healthy, Vallas said.

Mother and child would then be guaranteed continuing access to health care. Children would get training in early literacy, vocabulary and numbers.

Mothers and fathers — if dads can be identified and involved — continue to get coaching from the prenatal phase until the child enters kindergarten.

Trained parent-coaches, supervised by early childhood administrators and teachers, would provide much of the “home outreach” on how to be skilled parents capable of meeting a child’s nutritional and educational needs.

Vallas said there is “no more effective and affordable program for closing the achievement gap.”

Without it, far too many low-income children start school at a “distinct disadvantage” that can “never be overcome,” Vallas said.

“No matter how effective your programs are after a child is 4 or 5, there are many children who will never get caught up, in part, because they haven’t received the early care and the early interventions they need,” Vallas said.

Emanuel has accused Vallas of over-spending and over-promising in Chicago, Philadelphia and other cities and leaving behind “fiscal time bombs” virtually everywhere he goes.

But Vallas argued Thursday that it’s Emanuel who’s overpromising and overspending when it comes to early childhood education.

“We’re gonna get enough money from the state to fund this thing? It’s a promise he’s making that he doesn’t have to deliver for four years. I would be really skeptical as to whether or not that promise could be kept. There’s still uncertainty as to what’s gonna happen at the state level when it comes to school funding,” he said.

Recruiting and training parent coaches has the added advantage of providing jobs, he said.

“There is no achievement gap when they start school. They’re able to keep pace. They don’t come to school with special education needs and chronic health issues that need to be addressed. It’s an ounce of prevention . . . The long-term benefits are absolutely profound,” Vallas said.

“The savings over the near-term would be enough to enable you to fully fund a universal program for 4-year-olds.”

Emanuel campaign spokesman Peter Giangreco said Vallas’ criticism is “no surprise,” given his track record.

“Under Vallas, CPS had one of the shortest school days, shortest school years and a ridiculous half-day kindergarten that only lasted three hours in the middle of the day that served neither the children nor their working parents, who were strapped with huge day care expenses,” Giangreco wrote in an email.

Giangreco argued that “failure to provide longer learning opportunities” for Chicago students was “one of the reasons Paul Vallas was fired” by former Mayor Richard M. Daley.

He pointed to the full-day kindergarten and full-day pre-K for thousands of 4-year-olds already implemented by Emanuel.

“We still have a long way to go, but we’ve come a long way since Paul Vallas’ Stone Age refusal to provide kids the time they need to learn,” Giangreco wrote.

During a campaign-style fireside chat at Truman College on Wednesday, moderator Cornelia Grumman asked Emanuel a question that plays right into Vallas’ hands.

“What’s next? Is it universal [pre-school] for 3-year-olds?” Grumman asked.

The mayor replied, “What’s next is getting this right . . . to make sure it’s great for kids. Then, we’ll be back in four years and we can talk about next.”