State School Superintendent calling for universal Pre-K

preschool

Indiana schools chief proposes statewide pre-K education

 

State school superintendent Glenda Ritz is raising the ante on Governor Pence’s call to expand state-funded preschool.

Indiana is one year into a five-county pilot program making preschool available to children from low-income families. Pence said last week the results from the first year are enough to request expansion into more counties next year. Ritz says she wants universal pre-K for all Indiana four-year-olds by 2020, regardless of family income.

Ritz predicts the state would immediately make up one-fifth of the estimated 150-million-dollar cost because fewer kindergarteners would be held back a year before entering first grade.

Ritz and Pence both envision a voluntary program using both public and private facilities, with state certification to ensure it’s not just daycare but early education. But Pence says he still believes the program should focus on low-income pupils who don’t have similar learning opportunities at home.

Both Pence and Ritz are outlining legislative agenda items they’ll only get to pursue if reelected this fall. Ritz says preschool would be part of a broader agenda which also calls for closing the “digital divide” between schools, and dropping the state’s strict dollars-per-child funding formula to focus on funding school programs.