Preschool Voucher To Assist Low-income Families Clears House Panel
A bill to give low-income families with young children access to an early-education voucher passed the House Education Committee Jan. 9. The Indiana Catholic Conference supports the legislation.
The measure, House Bill 1004, establishes the early-education-scholarship pilot program. The program would provide supplemental funding for eligible children receiving eligible services from certain early-education providers. Beginning after June 30, 2015, an eligible child may receive a scholarship through the program. Under the plan, a child or a sibling of a child who receives an early-education scholarship and meets certain other applicable criteria is eligible for the Choice Scholarship program from grades K-12.
“The program outlined in HB 1004 will provide needed assistance to families who may experience more obstacles and whose children are often without sufficient opportunities that benefit their social and cognitive development,” said Glenn Tebbe, executive director for the Indiana Catholic Conference. “Public policy should maximize the quality of educational opportunities for all children by ensuring that all parents have access to – and the financial capability to exercise the right to choose – the school they believe is best for their children.”
Three Indianapolis lawmakers, House Education Chairman Rep. Bob Behning and House Speaker Brian Bosma, both Republicans, and Democrat lawmaker Rep. Shelli VanDenburgh, authored the bill. It initiates a preschool pilot program in five counties across Indiana. The plan targets low-income children who would receive a voucher to attend a state approved, high-quality preschool program.
“We have done a lot in moving education and education reform forward. The greatest need where we have not done a lot is the area of early childhood education,” Behning said. “There is no question – Indiana is behind the rest of the nation in providing early childhood education especially to children of poverty.”
Under the bill, eligible students would come from families at 185 percent of the federal poverty guideline, which is $43,567 for a family of four according to the federal Health and Human Services Department. Students selected for the pilot program would receive $6,800 to attend a high-quality preschool program for a child attending a full-day program, or $3,400 for a child who attends a half-day program. The bill would authorize the program; however, funding would need to be allocated during the 2015 budget session.
Leaders from the business community around Indiana spoke in favor of the legislation during the Jan. 9 Education hearing. Connie Bond Stuart, regional vice president for Indianapolis of PNC Bank, testified in support of the bill, noting that PNC bank has committed $350 million over multiple years to assist in early-childhood initiatives. Stuart said that research shows that every one dollar invested in early childhood education saves the state $16 in later remediation. “Every child deserves a chance to be prepared to learn and ultimately be successful with a productive life,” Stuart said.
Angela Smith Jones, Director of Public Policy for the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, said early-childhood education has been the organization’s top priority for the past 10 years. She added that early-childhood education boosts the overall academic success for children throughout their school years and “provides a home-grown pipeline of workforce-ready individuals for our business community.” Derek Redelman, Vice President of Education and Workforce Policy for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, echoed Smith’s remarks, saying early childhood education was a “high priority” and “critical approach” to the business community.
While public-schools advocates have a history of being strong supporters of preschool education, several raised concerns about some of the specifics of the bill. Vic Smith, representing the Indiana Coalition of Public Education, rose in opposition to the legislation. “We need to end the erosion of public school funding,” he said.
Since House Bill 1004 gives students in the pilot program an automatic entry point into the state’s Choice Scholarship voucher program for grades K-12, Smith claims it would lead to increased funds being diverted from public to private schools. “As the K-12 voucher program grows, public school students get fewer resources,” he said. John O’Neal, of the Indiana State Teachers Association, raised similar concerns that the pilot program would serve as a “feeder system” into the K-12 voucher program.
Rep. VanDenburgh asked Behning if he would consider removing the portion of the bill that gives children access to the K-12 Choice Scholarship. Behning reminded VanDenburgh about the coming Senate battle to get the bill passed – and that many members in the Senate who are not very pro early-education voted for the bill last year primarily because it had the Choice Scholarship entry point. For now, Behning said he was keeping that part of the bill intact.
House Bill 1004 now moves to second reading on the House floor, where it may be amended before a it reaches third reading and a final House vote.
Indiana Catholic Conference www.indianacc.org
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