With Indiana’s preschool pilot program about to expire, there’s plenty of public support for a plan that ensures it continues. But there’s little consensus about how much to expand it — and how to fund it.
But after today, there are two main proposals on the table — one simple bill from senators that would double the current program and another more complicated plan from House lawmakers that also adds another pathway through which families can access taxpayer funded vouchers for private school tuition.
That aspect of the House bill was opposed by some lawmakers and community members today, who want to support preschool but worry about increasing access to vouchers. Critics say vouchers divert money from public schools, while supporters argue they give families more educational choices.
Generally, Indiana Democrats widely support scaling the program up to more counties. And some Republican lawmakers, like House Speaker Brian Bosma, want to see the program double or even triple in size. But others want it to grow more conservatively or not at all.
Indiana began its statewide preschool program in 2014, setting aside $10 million per year for low-income families to spend at preschool providers that met safety standards and offered programs that combined academics and child care.
Two years later, lawmakers and community advocates have signaled they want to keep the program moving forward, citing research that shows preschool gives students a jump start before elementary school and offers longer-term benefits, too.
Here’s a guide to the two proposals discussed in the Senate and House education committee meetings. Only one bill is likely to continue toward becoming law, although both plans could change over the next few months. It’s also possible both plans will stall.
For more education bills we’re watching in the General Assembly this year, check out our full list.
SENATE PLAN
Bill: Senate Bill 276, authored by Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle. The bill will likely see a vote in a committee meeting in the next few weeks.
Summary: The bill proposes expanding the state’s preschool program from five to 10 counties, at a cost of $20 million per year for next two years.
Comments: Holdman appealed to lawmakers who might not want to make a large financial investment in preschool by noting that this plan doesn’t go as far as a “universal” plan would because it would continue to restrict which families are eligible to use the preschool scholarships and which providers are allowed to accept them.
“Our program is very unique in that we are targeting disadvantaged kids,” Holdman said during a Senate Education Committee hearing on Jan. 25. “We are requiring an academic component to be part of the qualification to participate,” he said, something that “has given us some positive results.”
But other senators weren’t convinced that expansion is the right move, especially given the potential price tag. Advocates from the United Way of Central Indiana have suggested $50 million per year would be a more appropriate figure to satisfy demand for preschool, rather than the $20 million proposed.
“We don’t have anywhere near $50 million to do this,” said Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, a Senate Education Committee member and a key player in drafting the state’s budget.
HOUSE PLAN
Bill: House Bill 1004, authored by Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis. The bill passed out of the House Education Committee Tuesday and next heads to the full House.
Summary: The bill proposes expanding the state’s preschool program from five to 10 counties and loosening income requirements to allow more families to participate. Preschool providers could also apply for grants — which would be matched by local philanthropies — to establish programs or expand existing ones. Perhaps most controversially, the bill would let families who get a state preschool scholarship also receive for a voucher for kindergarten, meaning they could access the state’s voucher program sooner than rules currently allow.
Comments: Behning said it’s important to both expand the number of families who qualify for the state’s program and to give providers an opportunity to create more “high-quality” programs that meet Indiana’s criteria.
While most testimony on the bill was supportive, the part of the bill dealing with K-12 vouchers came in for criticism. Behning said the provision was meant to smooth out the process for families, and he doesn’t see it as a voucher expansion.
“It is really focused on making sure parents have a seamless opportunity to put their students in a school that they think best meets the needs of their students,” Behning said. “It’s an opportunity to keep that without having to disrupt the child’s education plan.”
But Scott Russell, with the Washington Township parent council, saw it as interfering with the main point of the bill — to expand preschool. Russell pointed out that the potential added cost of the voucher provision was much greater than the cost of the parts of the bill that deal with preschool, according to the fiscal note attached to the bill.
“The bill in its current form ties together the widely popular idea of expanding our preschool pilot program with a controversial (voucher proposal),” Russell said. “A preschool funding bill is not the place for the expansion of vouchers.”