The Washington Post's Jay Mathews dedicates his column today to discussing Checker's new book "Reroute the Preschool Juggernaut," in which Checker takes strong issue with the idea of universal preschool. Mathews says that leaders of the movement to expand preschool are "not going to like" the book, but that "its clarity and depth are hard to resist." He reviews a few of Checker's main points, disagreeing with him a bit at times. But Mathews concludes:
I haven't seen enough preschools, good or bad, to decide if Finn is right. But his analysis is a good starting place. There has been much written about the benefits of universal preschool. This report will inspire much more, both positive and negative, and help those of us overwhelmed by conflicting data to figure out the essentials, and see the weaknesses on both sides of the debate.
And if you're interested in reading more about this debate, Checker wrote an op-ed that ran in the Post?? earlier this month.