• Preschool screening is not legally required, even though officials often give the impression that it is.

• Preschool screening is highly subjective. It does not provide accurate scientific results that can be relied on.

• The more children who are labeled as having problems, the more professionals benefit through increased budgets, job security, and prestige. Among those who benefit are test givers, so-called experts in child development, politicians, government officials, teachers, school districts, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, family and juvenile court judges, researchers, corporations, and the pharmaceutical industry.

. This increases the likelihood that increasing numbers of children will be labeled as having learning, social, developmental, and other problems.

• The effects of labeling can last a lifetime, undermining confidence and strength of character.

• Unless it’s obvious that children have a serious problem, they should probably not be screened. The risks of inaccurate and harmful labeling are too great.

• For more information, see Why Children Are Not For Screening, Increased Mental Health Screening? Are You Crazy!?!, Let's Not Institutionalize 3, 4, and 5 Year Olds, and WPA resolution #49. Importance of Parents to Children's Development and Learning and a Family's Well Being.

• Young children develop, grow, and learn best when cared for by someone to whom they are attached, preferably their mother, sometimes their father or another adult. Children’s need for this continuity persists even when parents need or want to be away.

• Economic realities pressure many parents to believe that day care and preschool are good for children,

• Teachers, other professionals, day care centers, preschools, and many others have a vested interest in saying repeatedly that day care and preschool experiences are good for children.

• Day care and preschool can have serious, long-term effects. Here is the conclusion of one study of universal child care: “Finally, we uncover striking evidence that children [who were cared for at young ages through state supported childcare] are worse off in a variety of behavioral and health dimensions, ranging from aggression to motor-social skills to illness. Our analysis also suggests that the new childcare program led to more hostile, less consistent parenting, worse parental health, and lower-quality parental relationships.” Michael Baker, Jonathan Gruber, and Kevin Milligan. “Universal childcare, maternal labor supply, and family well-being" NBER Working Paper No. 11832, 2005. http://www.nber.org/papers/w11832

• For more information, see Why Children Are Not For Screening, Why Professionals and Politicians Are Wrong About Preschool and What We Can Do About It, Increased Mental Health Screening? Are You Crazy!?!, Let's Not Institutionalize 3, 4, and 5 Year Olds, Testimony on Five-Year Old Kindergarten, and WPA resolution #49. Importance of Parents to Children's Development and Learning and a Family's Well Being.

Stand up for parental rights and responsibilities and oppose increased preschool, screening, universal childcare, and home visitations.

A summary of problems caused by increased early childhood education and links to articles that support the importance of parents and document the harm done by early childhood education.