Biden Calls For 16-Year Public Education System

[gateley]

by: Dien Judge
Friday (10/05) at 11:03 AM

Sen. Joe Biden wants to transform American public education into a 16-year system, getting kids as young as 3 into 'head start" programs.

The Delaware Democrat and presidential candidate announced his education plan Thursday in Des Moines, then set out for two days of campaign stops in southeast Iowa.

Biden's proposal, which comes with a price tag of approximately $30 billion, would fund two full years of preschool for everyone and provide qualifying high school graduates funding to go to college for two years.

At a campaign event in Ottumwa Thursday evening, Biden chatted for 90 minutes with a crowd of about 40 people at the local United Auto Workers hall. He spent a good deal of that time talking about his education plan.

"We've got to start kids to school earlier," said Biden. "If we start kids in a quality preschool at age 3, they have a 25 percent better chance of graduating high school than if we start them at age 6. Teachers have known this for years. So I would invest in early education. I'd double enrollment in Early Headstart and quadruple Headstart."

The plan would also provide $5 billion in grants to states to expand public preschool programs, and would expand home visitation programs for new parents to provide guidance on health, nutrition and school readiness.

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