St. Petersburg Times

'A defining choice'
Florida lawmakers must realize the prekindergarten plan is being dragged down by a religion debate and an acute lack of funding.

A Times Editorial
Dec. 16, 2004
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As Florida prepares to plow a new educational field, the mule is apparently getting ideas of its own. Nowhere has that been more evident than in the tortured legislative exchange over whether prekindergartens will teach or proselytize.

The new pre-K plan legislators are preparing to adopt this week would allow religious day care centers to reject 4-year-olds based on their faith and to accept public money for students they would infuse with religious messages. That's a perilous step beyond what the state now allows with "Opportunity Scholarships," a voucher law that says religious schools may not "compel any student ... to profess a specific ideological belief, to pray or to worship." The point is salient, given that two courts now have ruled that Opportunity Scholarships violate the state's prohibition on direct or indirect aid to religious institutions.

Constitutional implications aside, though, the manner of this debate is painfully revealing. Asked by the Palm Beach Post on Monday whether prekindergarten schools should be teaching religious doctrine, Senate President Tom Lee said, "I think that's an issue." Hours later, after talking with policy advisers, he changed his tune: "I don't see how we get to that policy position as a Senate."

In committee debate on Tuesday, Sen. Lisa Carlton, the sponsor of pre-K legislation, answered concerns of Jewish lawmakers by insisting the state Constitution would prohibit religious teaching in the prekindergartens. Oddly enough, Carlton cited the very provision now being used by courts to rule Opportunity Scholarships as unconstitutional. Carlton's explanation brought a quick rebuke.

"I hear contradiction," said Ellen McKinley, founder of the Childhood Development Educational Alliance, a Jacksonville organization representing about 700 faith-based providers. "I hear there is nothing to preclude you, but on the other hand, you can't teach faith. ... Until now, I didn't realize there could be a problem with this for our people."

The "our people" reference was not to 4-year-olds but to day care providers. As lawmakers quickly backed off any restriction related to religion, they were also demonstrating that the Legislature is not the one driving this mule. The day care providers are.

Just look at how this new educational venture, a universal prekindergarten that almost everyone agreed would give young children a better shot in life, is being structured. The building blocks provide the clues:

Who would be in charge? Not the state Department of Education, which says it only wants standard-setting authority. No, this educational endeavor would be overseen by the state Agency for Workforce Innovation, whose role is to help move adults from welfare to work and provide day care to the extent it helps in that transition.

Who would provide the schooling? Not most public schools, because the Legislature prohibits districts from participating if they don't meet stringent class size requirements, which the districts would fail to meet only because the state has provided them inadequate money.

Who would teach? Not certified teachers. The bill calls only for child care credentials, although it provides "aspirational goals" in future years. The reason is that day care center operators employ almost no teachers with college degrees.

How much would be taught? Not too much. Lawmakers ignored the six-hour-a-day models provided by other states and by Florida kindergartens and chose three hours instead. Of course, children could opt for a summer program, in which the days might be seven or eight hours long.

The big lie in this week's affront to prekindergarten is that this is the best Florida can do, that a lack of certified teachers and a shortage of public school classrooms prevent anything more. The fact that lawmakers have wasted the last two years since voters approved pre-K certainly limits their options, but Florida TaxWatch has built an impressive case that the availability of qualified teachers and classroom capacity is primarily a function of money. The reality is that lawmakers simply are trying to get off cheap with pre-K, even as they face a budget next year with a projected $2.9-billion in new revenues and plenty of tax exemptions that could be justifiably removed.

Democrats have tried to no avail to promote higher standards. Rep. Loranne Ausley of Tallahassee implored her colleagues to at least do no worse than Georgia. In Georgia, prekindergarten is taught by qualified teachers for six hours a day in small classrooms. She called pre-K a "defining choice for state leaders" and said it will "set the academic tone for generations of young students."

Maybe lawmakers should listen to the education experts and not merely the day care providers.