Pulling the Plug on Preschool

Three Republicans running for governor want to pull 13,000 kids out of state-funded preschool.

Terry Branstad, Rod Roberts and Bob Vander Plaats say they would ax the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program for 4-year-old kids. The GOP hopefuls contend it's too expensive, and they just don't want the state providing 'universal' preschool. That's the job of parents, churches, private providers and grandmas, etc.

'We would have been better off allowing our private providers to continue to provide that quality education for our 4-year-olds,' said Roberts, a state representative from Carroll.

Roberts should ask the parents in his district who are sending 189 kids to a state-funded preschool operated jointly by Carroll public schools and Carroll Kuemper, the town's Catholic school. Carroll is one of 175 districts that has received grants through the program. Districts are required to forge cooperative efforts among schools, private providers, churches and nonprofits.

Sue Ruch, elementary principal at Carrol, says she expects more than 200 kids next year. Not surprising, considering it's free. But it's also a rigorous program intended to get kids ready for school.

'I've been in education 32 years. I have not seen a more popular program for kids,' Ruch said. 'It's very successful.'

Republicans are right, it's not cheap. The state is spending $42 million this year and may spend $108 million by 2014, according to estimates.

They blame Gov. Chet Culver, but really, the state's preschool effort was sparked by former Gov. Tom Vilsack, who convened a panel, including top Iowa business leaders, to determine how best to improve Iowa's education system with an eye on the future need for skilled workers. Quality preschool was the top recommendation.

But our three GOP caballeros think giving corporations an $80 million to $160 million income tax cut is a better development tool than a well-educated work force.

And while they hand companies a break, they'd yank free or affordable preschool out from under thousands of workers. For them, that's a big, backdoor tax increase.

Still, this is good to know.

Because whenever they talk about keeping young families in Iowa or stagnant wages or lagging test scores or achievement gaps, we can think about how they'd toss a popular, effective preschool program on the scrap heap. I hope all those "family values" primary votes are worth it.

They're going to find out that affordable preschool is a big issue in Iowa, where 65 percent of households with kids have two working parents. You'd have to be pretty out of touch to think cutting those parents' options is the best way to balance a budget.

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