House Democrats today said ending preschool for nearly 20,000 kids is shortsighted and encouraged Iowans concerned about state budget cuts to participate in a public hearing at the State Capitol on Tuesday, January 18th at 6:30 pm or submit comments on a new web page for concerned Iowans at www.iowahouse.org/savepreschool.
“With research proving every $1 spent on preschool saves taxpayers $7 later, we believe preschool is a wise investment for our state and a good benefit for middle class families across Iowa,” said Rep. Cindy Winckler of Davenport, who is Ranking Member of the House Education Budget Subcommittee. “Just as we’ve increased access to voluntary preschool to 90% of four year olds in Iowa, it’s wrong to end preschool for 20,000 kids across the state.”
“After promising $200-300 million in savings in this year’s budget, House Republicans have failed to meet their own promise with a plan that saves only $6 million this year. House Democrats will work with Republicans to make state government more efficient, but we won’t do it at the expense of kids and jobs,” said State Rep. Tyler Olson, D-Cedar Rapids, who is Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee. “I encourage Iowans to participate in the public hearing on Tuesday or leave their comments online at www.iowahouse.org/savepreschool.”
A public hearing will be held in the House Chambers at the State Capitol on Tuesday, January 18 at 6:30 pm on the bill, House File 45, and Iowans can sign up to speak by calling 515-281-5129.
House Democrats have also launched a website for Iowans to submit their comments online or get more information about the Republican proposal at www.iowahouse.org/savepreschool.
Investing in quality preschool programing with standards, accountability and progress monitoring is an excellent investment in our children and the schools they attend. These programs level the playing field for all children entering kindergarten regardless of income or background. When all 4 year olds attend the programs without a financial barrier, 4 year olds are much more prepared to enter kindergarten as 5 year olds. These programs serve families and children by increasing their success in school as k-12 students and serve our communities by creating jobs. These programs employ highly qualified teachers, para professionals and allow children with special needs to be educated with their normal functioning peers. Serving children with special needs in these preschool classrooms also allows school districts to meet the legal requirements set forth in the federal laws for special education.The special needs students also enjoy the experience and learn from their peers.
Parents that earn high incomes may very well be able to afford to pay for the preschools; low income families qualify in most cases for assistance but it is always the middle income families that feel the pinch of the high cost of preschool and childcare. Iowa has a long and respected history of being committed to educating Iowa’s children and this is demonstrated by student performance when compared to national test scores and student achievement. Why take away effective, proactive programs that serve Iowa’s families and have demonstrable student success? Gov-elect Branstad and the republican legislators need to keep Iowa moving forward not backwards. Look before you push Iowa children and their families over the cliff! Iowa invests in children and families. We need well educated students and jobs for their parents. Please stop and think about what you are throwing away when you get rid of preschool for 4 year old children in Iowa.
Pre-school is the most important schooling our children will have, this is where the minds start to develop, and they start the learning. Why would you want to cut preschool,I thought Iowa was about education we want to be on top. Education should be our priority. If cuts need to be made find some place else. I want my tax money to go to Iowa’s education.
I don’t understand why a change in leadership would not be educated enough about the great amount of scientific based research which shows how vital and successful it is to a child’s growth and achievement to have a strong start in an early childhood educational preschool program. Why would we cut funding to a program which is off to such a great start, and which in our school district at South Tama has shown great growth for our primary and intermediate level learners who have been in our public preschool program. Please listen to educators and citizens who can tell you how much better a child who has been in a public preschool system is now doing compared to children who have not been givien this opportunity. As a taxpayer, I gladly contribute to education at an early level. I in fact would propose keeping these programs before college and university level funding. I urge a strong and well thought out debate of this issue and ask leadership to encourage a vote that would not take away our public preschool programing for Iowa kids.
Pre-school is essential to building a solid foundation and learning base for our children’s education. We need to invest more money into education, to insure the successfull future of our children, NOT less!
As a Kindergarten educator for 30+ years I feel it is imperative that we keep our preschools intact. With our low economic areas the children are in desperate need of the basic education. (learning their colors, the alphabet, etc.) Visit any Kindergarten classroom in the Fall and you will see the wide span of ability levels and needs. To eliminate preschool would be ludicrous!!
I agree with Bonnie (above) regarding who will continue to receive the much-needed preschool education. Those who can afford to enroll their child in a private preschool will do so and those who qualify for financial assistance will also be able to give their child this important part of educational development. This leaves a great deal of parents in the “middle” who will not be able to afford the extra $200-300 per month for a preschool education for their child. As Iowans and Americans, we cannot rest on our laurels while watching test scores decreasing in our schools. We need to provide an education to every four-year-old, not just a few. Spending our taxes on education is the best investment we can make for ourselves and future generations. No four-year-old should be left behind.
I taught Kindergarten for 20 years and love the idea of preschool when the funds are there BUT I have 4 kids in the regular school system and EVERYTHING is being cut. It is time to cut the preschool and concentrate on keeping high standards for our public schools. We have 3 high schools that are closing within a 15 mile radius because of the past 3 year budget cuts. What is really more important? Living in a border town-our school is filling up with families coming from Illinois to receive free health care and preschool.
As the parent of a 4 yr old pre-school Child I have found preschool to be a very important step in her education. I have watched her blossom learning new things everyday from school. I know that without the subsidized preschool we would not have been able to give her the opportunity and she would be one entering kindergarten behind the more priveleged children and would be difficut to catch up.
To keep Iowa an education state we need to provide education to every 4 year old so they are not left behind
I have one child currently in preschool and another one that went through it and I have been very impressed with how much they have learned and how much it really helped my older daughter in starting school. We can not afford to send my children to daycare and to school and if it wasn’t for free preschool they wouldn’t have attended. We are one of those “middle” families. This is essential to our children to have this opportunity and I seriously pray that the people in charge will look hard and long at this before voting.
I think this is pretty easy to figure out. You guys, Democracts, stop sucking at Bill Knapp’s tit and the Republicans stop sucking at the tits of the likes of the Koch Bros., various PACs and now, because of Citizens United ruling, undisclosed cabals of rich guys, and raise taxes on these rich f*cks.
This is my 37th year of teaching in Iowa.The preschool program,in my opinion has been the best change in public education. I am a kindergarten teacher at Forest City Elementary School. This is the second year that we have had preschool paid for by the state. So this is the first year that my kindergartners all went to the same preschool before coming into kindergarten. I see alot more kids ready for school. They are not as uncomfortable coming into school and adjust quickly to our routines. They have friends that they met at preschool and that makes such a difference in their social skills. I understand that it is expensive to sponsor and pay for preschool for the whole state. I think parents would be willing to pay for their children’s meals and bussing. If they are not able to pay for these things they would rqualify for the free or reduced meal program that all public students in Iowa can apply for and we have a bussing program for those that need help with the costs. Our school provides bussing free for all children living more than one mile from our school. I think it is extremely important to provide a quality program for all children in our state the year before they are elligible for kindergarten. I have a two year old grandchild that will be ready for preschool in another year and a half and I am hoping our state will continue this great program that benefits all who attend. Thank you for reading this and I hope and pray that all of our state legislators will continue this most valuable program.
Well-educated kids are the future for Iowa. As a parent and paraeducator, I have seen the benefits of 4-year old preschool firsthand. Please keep the opportunity for free preschool available to Iowans who might not otherwise have the chance to give their kids a head start on their education.
I urge a no vote on House file #45 to defund preschool education. Although I am in favor of free for all preschool education for the reasons above, I offer a compromise. It is important to offer uniform preshcool to ALL children with a certified teacher. The school is a great venue. However, if you wish parents to bear some of the cost burden, as of now parents pay for school lunch and for bussing unless they are on a free and reduced plan. This could be the same. Putting middle class parents on a sliding fee scale could also be possible but it is difficult for parents to pay a “college tuition” for a 4-year old, plus daycare for them and any siblings. If preschool or private preschool is unaffordable, the child will start behind his peers. How do you then build a world class school as governor Branstad wants?
Preschool is an absolute must if we expect students to be to be ready for Kindergarten! As a Kindergarten teacher, I usually have several students without preschool experience and they struggle most of the school year to catch up to their peers. It is not fair to penalize those who come from a low income families for something which is out of their control.
As an individual who fought for the formation of the Four Year Old Pre-school in the state of Wisconsin, I can say with full conviction, that it would be a giant step backwards for the State of Iowa to cut the funding for the public four year old Pre-school programs. I understand that budgets are tight, that programs are going to suffer state wide, but why must it always be our children that suffer first? Education is the future for our state and our country. Education starts before Kindergarten, it starts before age five. It begins at birth. If children do not have a solid foundation of their basic skills, before entering the rigors of Kindergarten and beyond, how can we expect them to not only achieve, but thrive? I ask you to consider looking at the data showing the growth and progress of the children who have attended a solid, curriculum based, high quality Pre-school vs. those who have not and then your decision should be easy. These programs are working!!!! Our children are acheiving! ALL of our children, not just those who can afford it or those who may qualify for funding because of income levels, but ALL of them, including us in the middle who usually fall through the cracks with these sorts of budget cuts. We make a little too much to qualify for funding and we don’t make enough to pay for the quality education we know our children need before Kindergarten. I thank you for your time and pray you listen to our children when you make your decisions.
It is irresponsible for politicians to attempt to balance the budget by cutting services to vulnerable populations of children. As a former preschool teacher and life long child advocate, I believe this is the worst type of decision making possible. These children are our future leaders, do we not want them to have every opportunity for education possible? What kind of short sighted thinking is this? Any politician who believes they are serving our state by cutting off services to children, should think about how many of us are going to remember this when it’s time for re-election. My son attended one of these preschools 20 years ago and is now a college graduate. There are over 200 children in our community who currently attend preschool. I cannot stress strongly enough that cutting the preschool funding would be a tragic mistake for both the state of Iowa and it’s children. There are those of us who will remember this on election day and in the future, as the children of Iowa grow up with or without preschool as decided by politicians whose own children most likely do not fall into the category of those who will lose services.
Pre-school is essential to building a solid foundation and learning base for our children’s education. We need to invest more money into education, to insure the successfull future of our children, NOT less!
I have had the honor of working in early childhood education for 24 years. I am finding it extremely difficult to tell our parents that there may not be pre-school for their children next year. How can I tell one of my pre-school children that his little sister won’t be able to go to “his” preschool next year because our legislators have decided not to invest in their future? Please find it in your hearts to save our funding & tell these little ones that indeed they do matter!
I currently have one child in the state-run 4-year-old preschool program. Last year he was enrolled in a Parent’s Day Out program, only attending 2 days a week, because that is what we could afford. In my opinion the 4-yr. old preschool program has been a very valuable experience that he would not have otherwise been able to have. Atleast, not at the frequency and length of time this program provides. Had he not been able to attend this program he would have been in a program probably 1/2 the amount of time. I really feel that this program is best preparing him for kindergarten. He is interested in learning; loves writing and starting to read. He also likes going to the school library and checking out books, eating breakfast and lunch at school, and having recess outdoors to build upon the friendships started in the classroom. He had a difficult transition in the fall and now is use to the routine and expectations. I truly feel like he will start kindergarten off with less anxiety and more enthusiam for learning that he would have had. It saddens me that this may not be available to other families in my situation. I am middle-class, yet still have to make our dollar stretch to the best of our ability. This program has been wonderful and it’s a shame that other 4-year-olds will have fewer opportunities than my child has been able to experience. There must be other programs that can be cut in order to show our children in the state of Iowa that they are valued and that we believe and want to invest in their future!