Universal (for profit) Pre-K, DFER and the suits
First, a bit of background about my family and why I am concerned about preschool and what “Universal pre-K” really means.
As I have mentioned before, my family is African American. My mother grew up in South Carolina in the early 1900′s with four siblings, a mother who was a music teacher and a father who was a train porter.
In my family it was understood that the way to succeed was to have as much education as possible.
My mother received her Master’s Degree in Child Psychology and Early Childhood Development from the University of Southern California during the Depression. Something that to this day puts me in awe.
My dad, Brice Taylor, was the Director of Head Start for Southern California. He came from a very difficult background in Seattle but went on to become the First All-American in football at the University of Southern California. Sometime after graduation, he became President of Bishop College in Texas until folks there decided he was too outspoken… for a Black man. (And moi didn’t fall too far from that tree.) He and my mother moved to Los Angeles where my dad became a teacher and the football coach at Jefferson High School, a school in a neighborhood called “Watts”. He worked seven days a week. When not teaching and coaching during the week, he kept the school gym open on Saturdays so the students would have a safe place to be and on Sundays, he was a minister at the First African Methodist Episcopal church in Los Angeles. After retiring as a teacher and receiving the Golden Apple award and other honors, he was appointed Director of Head Start for Southern California by Governor Reagan. My dad believed in Head Start and the benefits of the program. It was a place where children Universal (for profit) Pre-K, DFER and the suits | Seattle Education: