[thumbtackthief]

Teachers here are required to get Master's degrees as well. I'm staring at my useless Master of Science in Teaching right now. And delay school starting? If we had decent parents at home as a rule, we wouldn't be in the predicament we are now. School needs to start even sooner to make up for the shortcomings of parents as it is. I can't tell you how many times I called home and--if I even got a response at all--was clearly given the message that the parent/guardian did not care about the child's education _at all_.

[b_emery]

I'll second this. Even more so, in a world of specialization, why not have well trained, enthusiastic, highly specialized teachers spending time with the kids from an early age? There has to be some balance, young kids want to be with their parents. My kids are in preschool 2-3 days a week. The teachers (not babysitters) are amazing at getting the kids engaged, developing fine and gross motor skills, and encouraging curiosity. I even learn how to be a better parent from them. My kids will start Kindergarden with a lead over kids who haven't had similar experience. So yeah, pre-K is the way to go, I'm glad to see attention being paid to this (locally at least).