The Nation - News from Feb. 12, 1988

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) unveiled a nationwide multibillion-dollar preschool education bill that he hailed as the next decade’s equivalent of “the mission to the moon in the 1960s.” Kennedy, at Boston College in Newton, Mass., said that he will introduce the bill for his “Smart Start” program in the Senate by the end of the month. He said he hoped it would become part a presidential campaign issue and enacted in 1989. The program, which would be budgeted for $4.25 billion in federal funds for its first five years, is designed to provide year-round, full day-care and education services to all 4- and 5-year-olds, Kennedy said. It would be geared to providing early education to children from minority and low-income families.