Illinois

Governor's Proposal would Offer Preschool to All Kids Aged 3 and 4
By Robert Lewis
The Journal-Standard

Reaction Mixed to Preschool Plan

FREEPORT - Area educators and officials are supportive in theory of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's proposal to offer preschool to all 3- and 4-year-olds in the state - the key word being “theory.” While most agree a good preschool education is important for future success, they want to see details of the program and just how the governor intends to pay for the proposal.

“I think it's an excellent idea but I would like to see a plan (for) how he's going to pay for it,” said Wanda Herrmann, Dakota School District 201 superintendent. “If you worked with school district budgets every year, you'd be cautious too.”

Blagojevich last week unveiled an ambitious plan to make Illinois the first state in the nation to offer state-funded preschool to all 3- and4-year-olds. While he has suggested upturns in the economy will be bringing new revenue to Illinois, some political opponents don't see the governor's plan as feasible.

“Who can be against preschool? Everybody's in favor of it. How (are) we going to pay for it?” asked State Rep. Jim Sacia, R-Pecatonica. “This is an election year and we're getting a lot of proposals out there. How are we going to fund them?”

Blagojevich's plan would cost $45 million in each of the next three years and allow 32,000 more children to attend preschool, according to information from the governor's office. The state would phase the plan in over five years. After three years, all 4-year-olds and 55,000 3-year-olds would have the option to attend preschool. The plan would cover the remaining 3-year-olds by the end of the fifth year.

High costs currently keep some parents from sending their children to preschool, said Dana Keim, chairman of the Stephenson County Voices for Illinois Children Leadership Council.

“With the unemployment rate growing and the job loss, it's a lot more expensive. (Parents) aren't sending as many (children) to preschool,” Keim said.Preschool costs vary. At Open Bible Learning Center in Freeport, for example, three-day a week preschool costs $25 a week, and preschool and daycare service costs $80 a week, said Tonya Kaiser, a preschool teacher.

Even if the proposal passes, parents would still have the option to send their children to the preschool of their choice or not at all, said Jerry Stermer, president of Voices for Illinois Children, a nonprofit advocacy group that conducts research and makes policy recommendations to leaders regarding children and education. Voices is a strong proponent of the plan.

“We've been working on this for 18 years. We have long thought restructuring education to take advantage of the scientific research that shows early childhood education makes a difference makes perfect sense,” Stermer said. “We're really proposing to reinvent and redesign public education to include early childhood education for 3- and 4-year-olds.”

He likened the current debate to one educators and officials had years ago on whether kindergarten should be a part of the public education system.

Stermer pointed to research showing students who have had preschool tend to do better academically as compared to those who have not. He also highlighted data suggesting that for every dollar invested in early childhood education there is a much greater savings in terms of costs for law enforcement, prison and welfare.

“We desperately need this, and we need it now,” Stermer said. “When children start behind each other, the catch-up process doesn't ever work.”

Like several other educators, Patricia Burke, Freeport School District 145's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, worried the plan would become an unfunded mandate. She wondered whether schools would be saddled with the cost if state funding runs out.

The Illinois State Board of Education is in full support of the “Preschool for All” proposal, spokeswoman Meta Minton said.

“We know the more effort we put toward early education, (the more) we'll save down the road,” Minton said. “We think the governor is very farsighted in getting behind this initiative.”