Yesterday, President-Elect Barack Obama named Arne Duncan, Chicago schools superintendent to be hiss education secretary in the coming administration. Duncan is behind Obama's strong support of early childhood education programs, towards which Obama has pledged $10 billion. (As a comparison, Head Start, which serves about a million children is a $7 billion program.) One such program for poor children is the Chicago Educare Center. To see how children six months through five years are spending their days in this program, check out the New York Times slides show.
There are arguments about opening free preschool programs to the middle-class, Obama says he wants to keep the focus on the poor. Unfortunately, it looks like more and more children might be eligible for free preschool and free lunch after Obama takes office. According to the Washington Post, welfare rolls are growing and applications increasing in many states. 40% of new recipients have never applied for assistance before, many falling from the middle and upper-middle class, having lost white collar jobs and now unable to find work even in retail or fast food.
But rich, poor or in-between, the real question is, what should our children be playing with?
A new UK study finds that children's toys are more gendered now than ever before (so much for free to be you and me) and consequently, that girls--whose toys encourage little learning and more docility than boys'--are behind in math and science. Are such claims enough to make you rethink your stocking stuffers?
FInally, the Federal Reserve cut the interest rate to .25% yesterday, saying they will allow it to fall to zero. That's right, folks, zero percent. In other words, the government will be loaning itself money for free. They hope to send us all back into the stock market, desperate for better returns on our investments (what investments? you ask? us too). But if you have two nickels to rub together this is going to be a great time to buy a car or a house, as rates might fall below 5% for auto loans and mortgages. If you can get a mortgage, that is.
image: ounceofprevention.org
