As the House and Senate debate prekindergarten, Gov. Jeb Bush says the program must be "done right."
By ANITA KUMAR
Published April 28, 2004
[Times photo: Stefanie Boyar]
Pre-K instructor Sue Popp reads to Augie Castellana, left, Allie Weachter, Cammie Carpenter, lower right, and Annie Jinks, top right, at Mitchell Elementary in Tampa recently.
TALLAHASSEE - Lawmakers are scrambling to create a program to provide prekindergarten to all 4-year-olds, but the governor said Tuesday it falls so short of what voters approved he is prepared to veto it.
With three days left before lawmakers adjourn, the House and Senate are debating different versions of what will be the largest state-paid, prekindergarten program in the nation.
But neither is what Gov. Jeb Bush wanted.
"If we don't get above a certain threshold, we'll have to start again next year," Bush said Tuesday. "Unlike other issues this does not have to get done this year. We want to get it done right."
A constitutional amendment voters approved two years ago requires the state to offer a "high-quality prekindergarten learning opportunity" to tens of thousands of 4-year-olds by 2005.
But legislators and early-learning advocates sharply disagree about what "high quality" means.
How many students should teachers be responsible for? Who can seek accreditation? How many hours a day should students be at school? Who should oversee the public, private and religious schools that parents can choose?
"Both bills begin to move toward quality, but both bills have some distance to go," said David Lawrence, chairman of the Florida Partnership for School Readiness and an adviser to the governor on this issue. "I think people need to push harder. It needs to be genuine quality education. This isn't day care. This isn't babysitting."
Lawrence has said he will sue unless lawmakers do what voters intended.
Bush's task force recommended high standards: All teachers should be credentialed. Teachers would be responsible for no more than 10 students. Anyone who offered a program must seek accreditation. Children would be in class six hours a day.
But lawmakers, worried about costs, pulled back. Children, for example, could be in class three hours a day, not six. The House and Senate agree on the cost of instruction - $2,500 per child - but it's less than Bush wants.
"There is a little bit of good in each bill," said Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings, who headed the task force and has taken the lead on the issue for Bush.
Rep. Bev Kilmer, a Quincy Republican who heads the Education K-20 Committee, defended the House bill.
"This is the body of the task force report," Kilmer said. "It's very close to that."
The House and Senate are scheduled to debate the bills (HB 821 and SB 3036) today and hope to have a compromise by Friday.
House members got into a lengthy discussion on their bill earlier this week, but leaders cut off debate just before several Democrats were about to propose an amendment to restore some task force recommendations.
"The voters of Florida specifically called for a "high-quality prekindergarten learning opportunity ... ,' " said Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach. "The Republican-led Legislature has taken this great idea and made it a mediocre one."
Both the House and Senate plans say a child who turns 4 on or before Sept. 1 of each school year would be given a voucher to attend an eligible public or private prekindergarten program.
The biggest difference between the two bills is that the Senate calls for a $7-million pilot summer program for nine school districts, including Hillsborough and Pasco counties.
Aimed at giving young children a head start on school, prekindergarten attendance is voluntary. But education officials estimate about 70 percent, or 150,000, of the state's 4-year-olds will enroll in fall 2005.
Florida will be the second state in the nation after Georgia to offer it.
The state is required to pay for it without taking money from other areas.
Early estimates pegged the cost at less than $300-million. The state's official estimate was $425-million to $650-million. Amendment backers say they estimate it will be in the $300-million to $350-million range. But even if lawmakers agree on a compromise, they won't fund it until next year.
"We've got a year to implement this," Bush said. "There's still time to get it done, and hopefully we will."
- Times staff writer Joni James and researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.
