CAT3 - CR - Universal Preschool

[MinheeL12]

Universal preschool is a misguided use of public funds. This early academic focus will undermine the social, emotional, and mental development associated with a carefree early childhood. Furthermore, the economic burden on the state to fund such an ambitious undertaking will be overwhelming in both the short-term and long-term, since the state has no way to offset the program’s costs.

Which of the following, if true, most weakens the idea that universal preschool will be an economic burden on the state?

a. Students who attend preschool are more likely to complete high school than students who do not attend preschool.
b. Preschool educated children fare much better in kindergarten than do children without preschool.
c. Part of the high cost of universal preschool stems from its requirement that preschool teachers must have a bachelor's degree and a teaching credential.
d. The taxes necessary to fund universal preschool can come from a variety of sources, including property taxes and bond measures.
e. Students who attend preschool are less likely to require special education, an expensive public service.

(e) is the answer.

I am wondering why (d) cannot be the answer.
In the argument, the author insisted that universal preschool will be an economic burden because the state has no way to offset the program's costs. I thought that (d) tells that there are other possible ways to fund preschool and it will help to offset the costs.

I hope I can get comments
Thanks in advance!

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

Lots of these answers look plausible at first, but we need to be careful to analyze the argument. What does it mean to be an 'economic burden on the state'? This doesn't mean that the state can't pay for it, just that it will be expensive. Further, the argument gives the premise that 'there will be no way to offset the costs'. The word 'offset' means that the state will get some financial saving as a result of the expensive investment in preschool. In the strategy guide we call this stage of solving a CR problem 'state the goal', i.e. what do I need the answer choice to do? Here, that might be the questions 'Is there any way that universal preschool won't be an economic burden on the state? Could there be any financial saving from providing universal preschool?'

As for answer D, we don't know how easy it will be to raise taxes. Sure, the funding can come from a variety of sources (D), but this could still be an economic burden since, presumably, the state will have to raise those taxes in order to fund the program.