So I'll limit my response to the more rational argue-ers, and ignore the maniacs.

Troll, we agree on some things. But I do want to interject a few points into the argument. First of all, there is a big difference between a temporal association between two phenomena and a proven causal relationship. In order to prove that one trend causes another, you must control for all other factors that could be an influence. Tiresome, but that's the only way to reach a true scientific conclusion. If you were to try to prove that placement in day care (as an independent factor) causes delinquency, school problems, poor learning, or similar issues, I think you'd have your work cut out for you.

In kids who are failing in school, certain factors do come up over and over. And no, I don't have any articles to cite for you specifically, so I am in a sense breaking my own rule here. I'm working from memory. I will try to take a look through the literature this weekend and see what I can find.

There's a small group of kids with things such as Down's syndrome who have a very clear, biological reasons for doing poorly in school. The old chromosomes just didn't shuffle correctly. I'll leave them out of the discussion. For the rest, the kids with ADHD and behavior problems, a number of factors appear to correlate with poor performance in school and life.

Some of these, in no particular order: Prenatal exposure to alcohol or drugs, poverty, parents with a poor education, parents on welfare, a family history of learning problems, a chaotic household, mental illness in one or both parents, violence in the home, and neglect or abandonment by the primary caregiver. That last bit is meant to refer to the kids who really have been abandoned emotionally or literally by the parents -- the kids found living in crack houses and that sort of thing.

Daycare doesn't come up in this list. In fact, the really messed-up kids tend to get kicked out of day care after a few days. And for a kid in a bad household, their day care provider may give them more nurturing than their parent. It sucks, but it's true.

In families without the above factors, or with some ameliorating factors (i.e. poor, but well educated, or poor, but with good support systems) then outcomes are generally good. Yes, we still see things like mild learning problems, or adolescent acting-out, but very rarely do we see the catastrophic problems. And the final outcome for kids with mild learning problems but good homelife is excellent.

There are some other factors (and I can dig up a reference on this)that correlate with better-than-expected outcome. Female gender, high intelligence, a mentor, good reading skills, extended family, and a few others that I can't remember.

Daycare can be great or rotten, just like parents. If I had a kid, I would choose carefully, and look for a good ratio of kids to adults and a stimulating and safe environment. But parents who choose carefully have no reason to feel guilty.