Indiana

I have a great respect for Mitch Daniels. He's calling out boldly "the emperor has no clothes." If his approach is to find a suitable outfit for early childhood at an acceptable time, the cost to the state will be much less. One thing at a time - it's a knee jerk reaction to demand money we don't have for projects from a system that is not working well enough to offer full time kindergarten state wide or a decent Head Start program that actually teaches children. Congratulations Governor Mr. Daniels.

Daniels Hit on Early Education
Group Faults Governor for Lack of Pre-K
By Krista J. Stockman
The Journal Gazette

A national organization pushing for all students to have the opportunity to attend prekindergarten blames Gov. Mitch Daniels for Indiana’s lack of pre-K support in its latest report.

In a report released Friday detailing the gains and losses for pre-kindergarten nationwide in 2005, Washington-based Pre-K Now says Daniels has stalled any progress made in previous years in establishing early-childhood education.

“Indiana is one of only nine states that provide no state funding for pre-k or Head Start, and Governor Mitch Daniels has not yet addressed this serious neglect,” the report states.

The organization identified 10 conditions that create a favorable environment for pre-K support. One of the conditions is the governor of a state, who has the power to set agenda priorities and stimulate public debate on important issues, the report states.

“Gov. Daniels entered office with a foundation in place to lead the statewide discussion in Indiana on providing pre-kindergarten and early education to more children, but has only paid lip-service to making it a reality,” Libby Doggett, executive director of Pre-K Now, said in a statement. “Indiana is surrounded by Midwestern states that are moving in some direction on providing pre-k but Daniels has brought the state’s discussion to a virtual standstill.”

Daniels said he hadn’t seen the report Friday, but he has not forgotten about early-childhood education.

“We do need to do much more,” he said. “A broke state can’t do it.”

Daniels said in the 2007 legislative session, he plans to move forward with an initiative for full-day kindergarten, which also has yet to gain much ground in Indiana. He said it was unfair to say he has brought the discussion to a standstill when he has been in office for only a year.

“First, we had to fix the bankruptcy and as soon as we have done that, paid the schools back the money they were owed, immediately I’m going to move to new investments in education and at the early stages,” Daniels said.

The report compares Daniels with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has pushed for access to pre-k for all children in Illinois.

“Many governors have recognized pre-k as an urgent need, but few have made a greater commitment to children than Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois,” the report states. “Despite tough fiscal times, Governor Blagojevich held to his commitments and made the case for pre-k.”

Last year, Illinois approved an additional $30 million for early childhood education and had a $273 million early-childhood education budget for fiscal year 2006. Illinois’ pre-K program began in 1985 to serve at-risk students, but with the increases in funding, it will expand over time to give access to all 3- and 4-year-olds. The money also supports programs for children from birth to age 3.

Indiana’s other neighbors – Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan – also provide money for state pre-K programs, generally those serving at-risk students.

“Pre-K is gradually being integrated into the K-12 education system nationwide,” Doggett said. “In a state that has so many great universities like Purdue, Indiana and Notre Dame, it’s a shame (Indiana) won’t do more to ensure its own children are better prepared to enter those schools with high quality pre-K.”

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed has been a longtime supporter of early-childhood education, but money hasn’t been available for new programs, said Indiana Department of Education spokeswoman Mary Tiede Wilhelmus.

She said she expects the issue will be a priority for Reed and the Department of Education again next year when the state works out a new biennial budget.

According to Pre-K Now, some of the other factors influencing the success of early childhood education programs are having a key policymaker push for the programs, money, legislation and support of businesses and communities.