Selling Pre-K: Politics, Policy, and the Media in the Case of Universal Pre-Kindergarten in New York City

• In Event: Searching for Insights: The Diverse Nature of Pre-K Policy and Practice

Abstract

Multiple actors and stakeholders inform educational policy (Stone, 2001; Coburn, 2005). The media, in particular, plays a central role in shaping voter’s understandings of, and emotional responses to, policy initiatives (Goldstein, 2011; Lutz & Abu-Lughod, 2008). Media coverage greatly influences voters’ perceptions of what is important about different policy issues (Hajer, 2009). Some argue that, by highlighting certain aspects of policy initiatives, and down playing others, the media has become a means for marketing (or selling), policy to voters at the expense of important discussions about the goals and values that are embodied in policy decisions (Hajer, 2009; Valdez, et al., 2014). This is important since how policy is framed and staged for public consumption has consequences for how policy is enacted (Ryan & Graue, 2009).
Last year, publicly-funded Universal pre-Kindergarten (UPK) became a premier issue in New York City’s 2014 mayoral campaign. While UPK has long existed in the state of New York, its universality has been limited by state level funding constraints (NIEER, 2013). When Bill de Blasio announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City in 2012, he highlighted greater access to UPK as a central focus of his campaign. Like dogs to a juicy bone, the media pounced, and coverage of the election and first year of Mayor de Blasio’s tenure focused on his plans for UPK.
Given the influence that media can have over the public’s notions about what is important when it comes to different policy initiatives (Goldstein & Chesky, 2011), we wanted to understand the role of the media in informing the policies that emerged in the scale of up UPK in New York City. To do this, we ask: How was the recent scale up of UPK framed by the media and the NYC mayoral campaign? What frames dominated the media coverage? What policy goals/perspectives were highlighted and which were subverted?
Using Gottweis’ (2006) argumentative rhetoric theory, we conducted a textual analysis of 750 articles from six major newspapers (three local and three national) and accompanying websites. Gottweis’ theory argues that three main rhetorical devices – ethos (emotional), logos (logical) and pathos (political) – are used to frame, define and direct the policy knowledge of voters towards certain beliefs and understandings. Our findings indicate that the media coverage of UPK was dominated by emotional arguments that resonated with middle and low-income voters in New York City, and subverted public dialogue about the goals, intentions and means for providing excellent early learning experiences for young children. As such, understanding how to provide early learning opportunities that truly battle inequality was subverted to the goal of funding as many UPK seats as possible.
This work has important implications for the future of pre-K, as diverse approaches and designs for the education of young children are implemented through local, state and national policy initiatives. Finding ways to attend to the needs of young children, above and beyond the din of the madding crowd is one that we as researchers and policy-makers need to recognize and find ways to address.

Authors

• Katherine Kresin Delaney, University of Toledo

• Susan B. Neuman, New York University