Members of the Iowa House are hotly debating an amendment that would continue state-sponsored preschool for all Iowa children.
Republicans controlling the House contend that the state can’t afford the program, which started several years ago. Democrats argue that the programs more than pay for themselves by helping children do better in later classes, graduate high school and avoid delinquency.
Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City, said she heard Terry Branstad, the new Republican governor, promise to promote world-class education and add 200,000 jobs. By pushing to cut preschool, he’s doing neither, she said. “This is a job-killer that picks on 4-year-olds,” she said of the proposal to pull back from universal preschool.
Rep. Ako Abdul Samad, D-Des Moines, said young children’s needs should be the Legislature’s top priority. “I think our babies deserve the best,” he said.
Republicans countered that they are willing to provide assistance to children whose families can’t afford preschool. But they said the state can’t afford to give more than $3,000 per year to families that can afford to pay for it themselves.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the Ebenezer Scrooges of the world are not taking away education from the Tiny Tims,” said Jeremy Taylor
, R-Sioux City.
The preschool cuts are part of an overall bill that Republicans say would cut $481 million in state spending over three years.
Rep. Nick Wagner, R-Marion, who is floor manager of the bill, said the education committee would be asked to come up with a new system of subsidizing preschool for families that need help. “I can’t comment on what the system would look like because it hasn’t been designed,” he said in response to Democratic queries about how the replacement program would work.
