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Sara Mead, who directs a center on early childhood policy at the New America Foundation, just e-mailed me a response to my post on pre-K in New York. The state, she says, is “a case study in ‘how to do universal pre-k in a really stupid way that creates problems and doesn’t achieve your goals.’”

But Mead says there’s a better model right next door in (seriously) New Jersey. She writes:

There’s a lot of important stuff going on in New Jersey right now around their Abbot pre-k programs and pre-k expansion there. (I would argue that New Jersey’s progress in pre-k expansion is an example of doing it right in contrast to New York state’s more troubled path on pre-k).

Something to explore. More on the New Jersey program, which started off in 31 high-poverty school districts and could expand statewide, here and here.

Talking about Barack Obama’s hopes for expanding early childhood education (school for 3- and 4-year-olds) Sam Dillon reports in the Times this morning that, despite efforts to make pre-kindergarten available, New York State’s efforts are “far from complete.” How far? Pretty far. There are two areas to pay attention to: access (how many 4-year-olds are actually enrolled in programs) and quality (are the programs doing real teaching or simply baby-sitting?).

Let’s start with access. New York City advocates told me last year that they estimate demand for pre-kindergarten in the city at about 75,000 4-year-olds. Yet the number of 4-year-olds who are taking part so far this year is 54,000. That represents a steady increase from years past, the Department of Education’s director of early childhood education, Recy B. Dunn, just told me in a telephone interview. But it’s still far away from universal — and it’s also below the number of seats the state agreed to pay for this year, 60,000, a package that would cost just over $230 million, Dunn said. The picture statewide is arguably bleaker. Winnie Hu of the Times reported last year that only 38% of 4-year-olds in the state participated in programs. (more…)

Where will Malia and Sasha Obama go to school after Inauguration Day?

At his first policy address as president-elect, Obama this afternoon said the family hasn’t yet decided where the girls will enroll. But he suggested that they will be looking farther afield than their neighborhood school. “Michelle will be scouting out some schools,” he said. “We’ll be making a decision about that in the future.”

In Chicago, the girls attend the progressive private school that’s affiliated with the University of Chicago. Many speculate that the Obamas will settle on an elite private school such as Sidwell Friends, which Chelsea Clinton attended. But D.C. schools chief Michelle Rhee has been angling for months for the First Family to pick one of her schools. Blogger Matt Iglesias reports that Sara Mead of the New America Foundation says Capital City Public Charter School, with a diverse population and convenient location, would be a good choice.