Governors Budget (Increases for Preschool Education / Bonds for College Engineering & Skilled Trades Programs)

Educators cheer extra $130M for preschool program

By Lori Higgins Free Press Education Writer

   Early childhood experts praised Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposal to invest $130 million in additional funding into a state-funded preschool program during the next two years, saying it will help fill a pressing need.

   “It will just be wonderful to be able to serve more kids and to make sure we can keep up with the quality,” said Joan Firestone, director of early childhood education at Oakland Schools, the intermediate district in Oakland County.

   Snyder’s budget proposal would also boost the per-pupil amount for the program — from $3,400 to $3,625.

   The preschool investment was part of an overall education spending plan that would increase funding at every level. Snyder proposed a 2% increase in spending for K-12 schools and for higher education.

   Snyder’s budget calls for equity payments to the lowest-funded K-12 schools, plus additional per-pupil increases to districts that meet academic and financial targets.

   Universities would be able to compete for $100 million in bond money for producing engineering students and engineering graduates, while community colleges could compete for $50 million in bond money for offering programs in skilled trades.

   Firestone said the increase in the per-pupil allocation is crucial to addressing the quality issue. The Great Start Readiness programs have not had a per-pupil increase since 2006.

   “Programs have really had to cut back on what they do,” Firestone said. “Many that used to provide transportation can’t do it anymore. And for our very at-risk families, the cost of a gallon of gas a day may mean they can’t participate in it.”

   Snyder, during a phone interview Thursday afternoon, said he always has been a supporter of early childhood education but investing when the state had a huge deficit wasn’t possible.

   “Now that we’re making progress, we’re making strategic investments,” he said. “I believe one of the best ones is early childhood education.”

   Snyder said increasing funding “can make a dramatic change” in the future of the children and the state.

   Great Start students are more likely to be prepared for kindergarten, less likely to be held back in school and more likely to graduate from high school on time than their peers who qualify for the program but aren’t enrolled.

   Just about all of the legislators listening to Snyder’s presentation applauded the preschool investment, but Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw Township, said the state also should invest in prenatal care, training for pregnant mothers and a healthy babies program.

   Randy Speck, superintendent of the Madison School District in Oakland County, said the increased preschool fundingwould be “a big deal.”

   “It’s a wonderful way for us to expand what we’re doing here in the district,” said Speck, whose district runs a Great Start program. “It gives students and families a great foundation to start their educational career.”

   He and others in the K-12 community were more mixed about the K-12 spending plan, saying they are pleased to have the additional funding but that it doesn’t make up for cuts in the last five years.

   • CONTACT LORI HIGGINS: 313-222-6651OR LHIGGINS@FREEPRESS.COM  . STAFF WRITER KATHLEEN GRAY CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.

ERIC SEALS/DETROIT FREE PRESS

   Kristie Phillips reads to students including Sean Barnett, 4, last month at Stepanski Early Childhood Center in Waterford, which offers the Great Start Readiness Program.