The article "Texas lawmakers want to cut pre-k funding; don't let them" is an editorial of the Dallas Morning News. It was written by the Dallas Morning News Editorial Board, so no specific author is named on this article, since editorials are supposed to reflect the opinions of that news station as a whole. However, if you would like to learn more about who is on the board and their background, here is the link: Meet the Editorial Board. All of the writers there have backgrounds in journalism and have experience writing with other news outlets.
The audience is pointed towards lawmakers but even more so for the everyday citizen living in Texas. The author wants the people to actively participate and urge lawmakers to keep or increase funding for Pre-k education, because they believe it is extremely important for a child's development.
Basically, the article states that due to a "tightening state budget", lawmakers are looking to spend taxpayer money on policies that are the most useful and worthy to be funded, something that does not include Pre-K education. The article reveals that according to early senate and house proposals, grants funded for improving Pre-k education has decreased. The author then argues that Pre-k education is important, which is why decreased funding for it is bad. They support their claim with studies of children and their early academic achievements. Also, the author provides a concession and counterargument, stating that "we know that these programs are costly [but] this short-term financial expediency will have long-term consequences for the state's children".
Some examples of their evidence are from local studies, showing that "children who attended high-quality pre-K ended up scoring higher on the
third-grade STAAR reading test than those who did not; they also were
more likely to read at a college-ready pace"
Another states "Those who [attended a Pre-K program] were three times as likely to be reading at grade level by third grade".
The article then says that even with the current funding, some school districts still aren't getting enough to maintain a effective program, which leads into this big question: why are they cutting the funding then? If some schools aren't being given enough money already, then further cutting the funds would only make the quality of education even worse.
Ultimately, I completely agree with the author in this article. I also believe that Pre-K education funding should at LEAST stay the same, if not increased, despite budget concerns. It has been scientifically proven that humans learn better at a younger age, so I think we should really take this chance and teach children as much as they can before they grow older. Think of it as an investment. Pay the price now, prosper later.
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