State panel urged to support preschool

BOISE – Advocates for early childhood education told a legislative task force on Thursday that eager-to-learn 3-year-old kids in the state are falling behind their counterparts elsewhere because Idaho doesn’t give them a chance to attend publicly funded preschool.

“Society pays in many ways for students who do not participate in early childhood education,” said Sherri Wood, president of the Idaho Education Association, the state teachers union.

Idaho is one of 10 states that contributes no money to preschool programs. It also bars school districts from spending state money on pre-kindergarten programs.

After lawmakers failed to overturn the prohibition in last year’s Legislature, the leadership in both chambers appointed a panel to study the issue – the Early Childhood Education Task Force.

At its first meeting Thursday, the panel heard from a chorus of education officials touting the necessity of early schooling. Experts, they say, suggest a link between preschool instruction and future college attendance, educational success and abstinence from crime and drugs.

Idaho’s failure is apparent in test scores, said Karen Mason of the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children. Exactly half of the 5-year-olds testing on the Idaho Reading Indicator last year scored below kindergarten-ready, she said.

Her group, along with the teachers union, recommended Thursday that the state lift the ban on public preschool and pump money into a program that could bolster access to both public and private preschools.

Both groups also touted a proposal to extend kindergarten to a full day, while making its completion mandatory.

The state Board of Education and the Idaho Association of Superintendents testified in support of the early education changes.

“It’s more important for states and budgets to get it right the first time than fix things later on,” Mason said. “That’s research-based.”

She said long-term studies have shown that states save between $2 and $17 for every dollar invested in early education. Those savings come in preventing crime and lost work hours and adding jobs and talent to the economy.

But there are drawbacks, said state Sen. Tom Gannon, R-Buhl, co-chairman of the task force.

Among the groups opposed to public preschool is the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, whose lobbyists say the proposed measures cost too much. Christian homeschooling groups argue that children would be yanked from the home too soon.