Democrats call Branstad preschool plan part of an ‘attack on public education’

Key Democratic education leaders in the House and Senate on Monday sharply criticized Gov. Terry Branstad’s plan for voucher-based preschool, saying it puts early childhood education out of the financial reach of middle-income Iowans and is part of a budget “hoax” meant to justify $200 million in tax breaks to large corporations.

“This is the most anti-education budget in anybody’s memory at the Capitol, and it’s all to finance tax breaks for wealthy corporations,” said state Sen. Herman Quirmbach (D-Ames), chair of the Senate Education Committee and vice chair of the Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

Quirmbach said the Iowa Preschool Program, announced by Branstad Monday morning at a Statehouse news conference, short-shrifts public preschool and continues “a generalized attack on public education” by the governor in a two-year budget proposal calling for zero allowable growth for public schools and a 6 percent in higher education, cuts that Regents institutions warn could prompt 12 percent tuition hikes.

“I’d like to give the other side the benefit of doubt but when proposal after proposal after proposal comes through and it’s all cuts, how do you explain this except to say that they don’t care about public education?” Quirmbach said.

“Our economy is coming back, and there is no reason for drastic budget cuts. We can’t afford to be generous, but there’s no reason to panic, and we can afford this,” he said. “This whole business about an alleged budget crisis is, I’m sorry, a hoax, and the only reason you would propose this is to be able to give gigantic tax breaks.”

State Rep. Nate Willems (D-Lisbon), ranking member of the House Education Committee, said “the idea that the state cannot afford 2 percent allowable growth and cannot afford to continue preschool does not hold water when they’re proposing six times as much in revenue reductions in corporate and personal income tax.”

Also Monday, Hugh Espey, executive director of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, issued a statement saying Branstad “continues to ignore” studies by the Iowa Fiscal Partnership and Legislative Services Agency reporting that Iowa’s fiscal outlook is better now than in the last several years, that corporations are not overtaxed and that tax cuts do little to spur job creation and economic development.

In announcing the plan, Branstad said the value of early childhood education isn’t in doubt, but the state’s ability to pay for the existing universal program is. With limited state dollars, it makes sense for the state to help families who need assistance, but require more affluent families to pay full tuition, he said.

Branstad proposes reducing state spending for preschool for 4-year-olds to $43.6 million annually, down from an estimated $70 million to $90 million, depending upon participation, under the current universal preschool plan. His proposal make up the shortfall with tuition charged even to the poorest Iowans.

Under the sliding fee scale that tops out at three times federal poverty guidelines, a family of four earning $67,000 would pay $1,300 annually for 10 hours of preschool a week. The same size family living at or below the poverty line would pay $30 a year.

“If you’re over $68,000 for a family of four, we think you can pay the cost of preschool,” Branstad said.

Quirmbach said the governor’s preschool initiative doesn’t take into account the economic hardships of young families, some headed by single parents or with single wage earners, who are juggling mortgages, car payments, student loan obligations and everyday living expenses.

“And the governor thinks they can shell out $3,000 to $3,500 extra a year,” Quirmbach said. “I don’t know what world he’s been living in – well, he was earning hundreds of thousands a year as a university president – but he’s lost touch with the middle class.”

Willems said Branstad’s proposal sends a message that preschool programs are only for the affluent or the most vulnerable Iowans.

“Three-hundred percent of poverty does leave out a large number of middle-class families,” Willems said. “There are a lot of families at 300 percent of the poverty line who are going to have a real challenge affording preschool.”

The two lawmakers also criticized the governor’s plan for backing down on a requirement for state-certified teachers, a hallmark of the landmark universal preschool plan signed by former Gov. Chet Culver in 2007. Under Branstad’s plan, state certification would no longer be required.

However, bachelor’s degree holders could teach preschool in a participating program while working toward an early childhood certificate that must be earned in two years, an option also available under the current law. Or, an individual with an associate of arts degree could teach while working toward an early childhood certificate and a bachelor’s degree, to be earned in three years. The phase-in period allows more programs to meet state standards, Branstad said.

Willems said the governor’s plan is a setback to successful efforts to change the perception of preschool from “glorified daycare” to education backed by research and science, “done with a purpose to create learning and growth.”

“When we hear people … saying that it doesn’t make any difference if someone has educational expertise or is someone off the street, that is exactly the wrong attitude,” he said, referencing recent remarks by Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley (R-Chariton) citing a North Carolina study he said showed certification doesn’t affect student achievement.

“I don’t think the governor’s rhetoric is as strong,” Willems said, “but it is wrong. The message is wrong.”

Quirmbach said allowing non-certified teachers amounts to “dumbing down the program.”

“Why go back and reinvent the wheel?” he said. “When 90 percent of the preschools have certified teachers, why would you want to go backward? It makes no sense.”

Taking preschool out of the state school finance formula throws Iowa school districts into a state of flux as they prepare 2011-2012 budgets without knowing their preschool costs or how their current partnerships with private and parochial preschools will look in the future, according to Willems. He’s worried that the uncertainty may cause some public school districts to decide to drop public preschool options entirely.

“We hear from school superintendents that they have parents right now who are willing to sign up kids next year, but they’re held in limbo because they don’t know the future,” Willems said.

Quirmbach said the governor’s plan potentially creates “a huge supply-side problem,” especially in sparsely populated rural areas with high poverty rates. Fixed overhead expenses, regardless of number of students served, could make it difficult for preschools to survive even with tuition.

“Even if you give vouchers, how are you going to assure there will be preschools available if you take public schools out of the mix?” he said. “This is a huge monkey wrench they’re throwing in the system. I don’t think they could successfully implement a voucher program for next fall. I don’t think there’s enough time. Who’s going to supply the classrooms and teachers; how are they going to plan for a budget to do that?

“We’ve worked carefully with local districts to ensure that this would be implemented successfully. Along with all the other things that are wrong with this plan, it really would be breaking faith with local school districts.”