In my experience,
organizations take on the qualities of their leader. In public schools,
it is the principal and the superintendent. If a school principal is straightforward,
proactive, and positive the staff will be also. This is the magic of
leadership, and I believe it is why for so long, theories about
leadership have focused on the personality of the leader as a reason for
organizational change. It also explains how an unprincipled leader
unwilling to make hard political choices sets an example that affects
everyone down the chain.

The idea that how a leader goes, so goes the
state, is the cornerstone of Pre-K Now’s yearly report, “Leadership
Matters”. In the new Web-only version, Pre-K Now describes
the variety of ways state governors approach pre-k in their budget
proposals. Some governors fully support investing in pre-k even in tough
economic times, as they have in Iowa and Alabama. In states like
Virginia and Michigan, state leaders are maintaining their support of
early childhood programs because they know the research supports these
programs.

In other states,
though, governors are unwilling to support pre-k, even though it is in
the best interest of children. In states like Illinois, which had
proposed and passed legislation to support universal pre-k, Gov. Pat
Quinn is proposing cuts to the already successful pre-k program. In
Arizona, a state that is facing a 27% budget gap, Gov. Jan Brewer is
recommending that the Early Childhood Block Grant, the major source of
funding for the state’s pre-k program, disappear. That is the “magic”
that a leader has, to cause opportunities for children to disappear with
a scratch of a pen on the state budget.

It could be that state
governors are taking their cues from someone higher up. President Obama
campaigned on promises of a comprehensive
birth-to-five educational system and then, when it came time for him to
waive his magic pen, there was no federal leadership on the issue. There
are no funds to support state-funded pre-k even though the
administration has continually supported early education in its
rhetoric.  In November, at the National Association for the Education of
Young Children annual conference, Arne Duncan said it was time for
education to, “Stop playing catch-up with the achievement gap,” and that
high quality early childhood education was how we would do that as a
nation. The President’s “Blueprint for Reform”, the administration’s
proposal for the reauthorization of Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA) includes no mention of state funded pre-k in the states.

Over 50 years of
research supports the effectiveness of pre-k to create better
educational outcomes for children. The Obama administration has chosen
to support reforms that are considered more “middle of the road”
politically even though they are less effective. Maybe it is time for
the president to make some principled decisions instead of political
ones, and make a little magic happen for young children.