I missed the New America Foundation's release of its new policy brief, 10 Things I Hate About NCLB, nah, just fooling, 10 New Ideas for Early Education in the NCLB Reauthorizaton, but I got a flavor for the discussion from David Hoff's blog post. The ideas presented by New America's Sara Mead were variously criticized for being "at the margins" and providing an "unstable funding funding source," but I found them quite intriguing. Mead rightly points out that while additional pre-k funds are needed, there is potential within existing NCLB policy and programs to get more bang for the buck out of early childhood.

Among Mead's proposals is one that would allow schools to use funds currently set aside for supplemental services and public school choice for "high-quality pre-k for 3- and 4-year olds living in communities with schools in need of improvement." I would go one step further and say, get rid of the set aside for SES and choice, but of course, that's just me.  (I am guessing her proposal could have more legs politically-speaking).