Rethinking the Welfare State: The prospects for ... - e-Library

Early childhood education 137
Despite these criticisms, few today would argue against mandatory school attendance to
some minimum age and most would sanction government funding (although not
necessarily direct public provision) of primary education. The positive effects of quality
child care are so significant and so far reaching that the case for universal access to early
childhood education and care is equally compelling.
More promising still, the North American void in child care provision offers policymakers
a clean slate on which to work. An optimal early childhood education policy can
be chalked up comparatively free from the political impediments that often characterize
the reform of established government services. This is an opportunity both rare and
precious; its value cannot be overemphasized.
Accordingly, we propose that government should support early childhood education
and care through demand-side subsidies which offer bounded parental choice among
private service providers. These subsidies should be granted in the form of vouchers
rather than as a cash benefit and should only be available for government-accredited child
care providers. The bar for accreditation must ensure that the focus of every child care
program is early childhood education. However, accreditation requirements should not be
set so high that competitive pressures and parental choice of workplace are unduly
restricted. We also argue that in order to prevent information failures a government
agency should collect information on a wide range of quality measures for each
accredited provider as well as maintain an outlet for consumer complaints. Information
on quality and complaints must be effectively disseminated to all voucher recipients.
Further, government counseling or referral services should be available for those parents
facing complicated or difficult child care choices. Finally, the value of vouchers should
be set at the cost of providing quality early childhood education and then scaled
according to income and special needs. This should guard against cream-skimming while
simultaneously precluding the need for mandatory pooling or extra billing. We argue that
such a system would offer affordable and quality care to families of all socio-economic
backgrounds, while maintaining the flexibility necessary for specialized services and
providers.