Dive Brief:

• Texas gubernatorial hopeful Wendy Davis criticized rival Greg Abbott’s proposal to use standardized tests to check the effectiveness of pre-kindergarten programs.

• Davis—who has been vocal in her push for universal pre-kindergarten—said pre-k should be about coloring with crayons and not “filling in bubbles with No. 2 pencils.”

• A spokesperson for Abbott responded, saying Davis was “lining her pockets at the taxpayer’s expense” with her expensive universal pre-kindergarten program that “calls for billions in new spending while maintaining the status quo.”

Dive Insight:

While Abbott is pushing for tests to check the effectiveness of pre-schools, Davis believes the focus should be on student-teacher ratios and teacher training. Seeing as the pre-k children are so young, it probably makes more sense to focus responsibility on the adults in the picture and how they are being trained when deciding the effectiveness of pre-k.

The pre-k conversation is one that many states are having recently as more and more politicians—like Hillary Clinton and Rahm Emanuel—stress the importance of early education. 

Additionally, a recent study from UNC shows how early education opportunities can affect health positively later in life. Since the UNC finding was all about decreasing stress—and tests have been shows to increase stress—it is probably safe to say the researchers would not advocate for early childhood testing.