Early education is getting welcome attention from local and national political leaders. President Obama and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick are only two of the leaders who have called — as recently as last week — for expanding access to high-quality preschool programs.

This sweeping momentum is also making news, as journalists, columnists, and educators weigh in on the issue. Here’s a roundup of some recent stories and opinion pieces.

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“Cory Booker: Building on the Success of the War on Poverty,” The Wall Street Journal, January 24, 2014

“Our national investment strategy is hardly a strategy at all,” New Jersey’s new senator, Cory Booker, wrote in this opinion piece. “We are failing to invest in areas that not only produce great social returns but also reduce federal spending in the long run. Most glaring of all, we’ve got our priorities wrong: We are failing to maximize the productivity of our greatest natural resource—our people.”

“In a global, knowledge-based economy, the genius of our children is our nation’s greatest asset. Universal pre-K is a must: Based just on cost-benefit analysis, the evidence is overwhelming.”

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“Pre-K, The Great Debate,” Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times, January 29, 2014

“Against all odds, prekindergarten is gaining ground,” Kristof, a Times columnist, wrote.

“Aside from apple pie, preschool may also be the only issue on which voters agree.”

“Yet one obstacle is the misperception that early education has been debunked by researchers — when, in fact, it’s the opposite.”

“One of the most consequential national debates this year will be about early education. The evidence that it builds opportunity is overwhelming. So the next time you hear people scoff that it’s a failure, push back — and school them.”

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“How Preschool Got Hot,” Gail Collins, The New York Times, January 29, 2014

“All of a sudden, early childhood education is really, really popular,” Time columnist Collins wrote. “Everybody’s favorite. If early childhood education were an actor, it would be Tom Hanks or Meryl Streep.”

“Early education is one of the best tools for breaking the poverty-to-poverty trap. Unfortunately, it only works if it’s high quality, and high quality is expensive. Yet very little of this newfound enthusiasm comes with serious money attached.”

“So here’s the question: How much of the new enthusiasm for early childhood education is real, and how much is just an attempt to dodge the whole inequality debate? Maybe we could agree that no politician is allowed to mention pre-k without showing us the money.”

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“The Mayor Pushes Back, For Pre-K,” The New York Times Editorial Board, January 27, 2014

Last month, the New York Times Editorial Board wrote a handful of editorials that support efforts to expand preschool and chronicle New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s efforts to raise taxes on wealthy earners to pay for this expansion.

“Mr. de Blasio has a lot more to do to make this work,” the Times said of de Blasio’s preschool plan. “But he is pushing in the right direction and has already created a political consensus that pre-K is worth fighting over. Making the case for his plan and his tax is his responsibility as mayor. The people who elected him want it done. So, Albany, why not let him do it?”

Two earlier Times’ editorials are here and here.

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“Lessons for de Blasio in New Jersey’s Free Pre-K,” Javier C. Hernández, The New York Times, January 26, 2014

This article tells one child’s story to show how high-quality preschool programs can improve outcomes.

“Teddy Lin’s teachers were worried.

“For the first few weeks of preschool, Teddy, a 3-year-old Chinese immigrant, cried nearly every day. While his classmates recited stories in English about dogs and elephants, he talked in Mandarin. Some days, he sat quietly and refused to play.

“His teachers responded with a radical plan. They began learning Mandarin, tutored his parents in reading, and paired Teddy with older classmates to teach him about topics like woodland animals. Within a few months, Teddy was performing on a par with his peers.”

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“Funds Meant for Charters May Be Diverted to Pre-K,” Javier C. Hernández, The New York Times, February 1, 2014

New York City seems determined to expand pre-K. As this article explains, “New York City’s schools chancellor announced her intention on Friday to shift money away from charter schools to help pay for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s expansion of prekindergarten programs.”

Specifically, Chancellor Carmen Fariña said she would “seek to redirect $210 million that had been reserved for classroom space for charter schools and other nonprofit groups.” Spread out over five years, the money would “create thousands of new prekindergarten seats, helping fulfill Mr. de Blasio’s signature campaign promise.”

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“Much of the country lacks full-day kindergarten,” by Jonnelle Marte, The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch, January 31, 2014

As this article explains, pre-K has been making the news, but, “often lost in the debate about improving early education, advocates say, is the fact that many students don’t even have access to full-day public kindergarten.”

As we mentioned in a previous blog entry, Amy O’Leary, our Early Education for All campaign director, was interviewed for this article.

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“How to Get More Early Bloomers” by Daniel T. Willingham and David W. Grissmer, The New York Times, January 29, 2014

“…large state preschool programs have two problems: It’s hard to guarantee quality at the outset, and it’s hard to evaluate results once the program gets going. But both problems can be addressed,” wrote University of Virginia professors Willingham and Grissmer in this opinion piece.

“First, we should capitalize on what we know. Small-scale studies indicate that some curriculums (like “Building Blocks” for mathematics) are effective. We know some features of preschools (like a warm emotional climate) are important. The federal government ought to ensure that states have access to concise research summaries of what does and doesn’t work. Such communication is currently not a priority, but it could increase the proportion of good schools pretty painlessly.”

They also call for in-depth program evaluations.

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“How Boston’s preschools went from mediocre to outstanding,” Linda Shaw, Education Lab Blog, The Seattle Times, January 30, 2014

Boston’s preschool program gets a shout-out from researchers Hirokazu Yoshikawa of New York University and Christina Weiland of the University of Michigan in this Seattle Times blog entry.

“Q: Why did you decide to study the universal preschool program in Boston?

“Weiland: I was really captivated by what Boston was doing to improve the quality of its preschool programs. They had implemented curriculum with proven results, and paired it with training — in-person weekly or bi-weekly coaching.

“In general, preschools tend to do pretty well in areas such as emotional support, but not so well on instructional quality. Boston raised quality across the city.

“Q: Does Boston have the best results to date?

“Weiland: It has the largest language and math impact.

“Some other programs have also had great success and we can and should learn from them. Tulsa’s program is wonderful. New Jersey’s is wonderful. Boston is the one that most closely matches the package that we and other researchers think has the most promise.”

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“Preschool Push Moving Ahead In Many States,” Richard Pérez-Peña and Motoko Rich, The New York Times, February 3, 2014

This article looks at local and national preschool programs and proposals, noting, “In just the past year, Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana and the city of San Antonio have enacted new or expanded programs, while in dozens of other places, mayors, governors and legislators are making a serious push for preschool.”

The article adds, “There are almost as many ideas about how to pay for preschool as there are programs. Several governors have advocated finding the money within existing budgets. San Antonio adopted a sales tax increase, while Virginia uses lottery money for its program. Mr. de Blasio wants to increase income taxes on New York City’s wealthiest residents, and Maine lawmakers are seeking to use casino revenue. One legislator in Maryland has proposed legalizing and taxing marijuana to finance preschool.”