This story appeared in the Knoxville News-Sentinel

LOUDON – Just days after members of the Loudon County school board hotly debated the effectiveness of pricey pre-kindergarten education programs, several parents and teachers took advantage of their chance to weigh in on the topic Thursday night.

Rachel Boals, a teacher at Philadelphia Elementary School, spoke in support of continuing the pre-K programs, despite a recently released study that some say shows the programs are not effective in the long term.

Boals, who has taught first-graders as well as pre-K students, said she can see the difference in educational achievement and urged doubters to visit the pre-K classrooms and speak with the teachers.

“I know there is learning going on,” Boals said. “The children I am sending to kindergarten are better prepared than the children that were coming to me in the first grade.”

Studies such as the one recently conducted by the state have significant flaws in the way the data was collected, Boals said. More studies are needed to accurately judge the long-term effects of pre-K programs, she said.

Sarah Daily, a Loudon parent and founder of the Loudon County Schools Solutions Web site, said she would urge the board to consider adding space for more pre-K programs when discussing the school building program.

Board member and University of Tennessee professor of education Gary Ubben brought several pre-K handouts for the board to read, including the text of a February 2008 address to the state Legislature by Dr. Steve Barnett, a Rutgers University professor. The report outlined the benefits of the pre-K programs.

Ubben said he expects the debate over pre-K to continue, and he wants to make sure the board has access to information from multiple sources.