Chelsea Schneider

Chelsea.Schneider@indystar.com

As this year's legislative session opens today, child advocacy groups are turning up their call for state lawmakers to commit long-term funding for prekindergarten education.

But initial proposals from Republican legislators indicate they’re already getting cold feet, with plans amounting to a more modest increase to the state’s limited pilot program.

A leader of the coalition advocating for a funding boost said the state needs to move beyond “pilot thinking.” To do so, lawmakers should commit at least $50 million per year to pre-K, Ann Murtlow, CEO of the United Way of Central Indiana, told IndyStar. Her comments represent the first time the coalition has publicly shared its funding request since forming in August.

“I would consider it a substantial move toward a commitment to educating our 4-year-olds, and I think it would help us get out of the ‘pilot mode,’” Murtlow said.

But advocates could face an uphill climb in achieving that figure in this year's Indiana General Assembly.

Republican leaders have said any expansion of the program will likely be incremental. The state now spends $10 million per year to offer scholarships to about 2,400 children in Marion and four other Indiana counties.

A proposal by a key lawmaker seeks to double the pilot by providing $20 million per year and allowing children in five more Indiana counties to apply for state aid. House Speaker Brian Bosma has spoken of expanding the program to an additional 5,000 students.

“It shows an interest in the program and the possibility of moving forward with it,” said state Sen. Travis Holdman, a Markle Republican who plans to propose the $20 million in funding.

As lawmakers wade into the issue, they must strike a delicate balance between providing money to expand the program while not ignoring competing interests as they write a new, two-year budget this legislative session.

Lawmakers also must juggle expanding the number of scholarship recipients while allowing time for the state to create more spots in high-quality programs.

Research shows placing children in programs that meet certain academic standards is critical for a student to see long-term benefits from pre-K attendance. But some Hoosier children live in counties with few or no preschools meeting those standards. Among the state’s 5,000 early childhood education programs, 21 percent meet high standards. Nine Indiana counties have no programs deemed high quality by the state, according to a new study by the Early Learning Advisory Committee.

The coalition’s request is “reasonable” given a new report shows nearly 28,000 low-income children in the state currently go without pre-K, Murtlow said. Funding all those children could cost more than $180 million a year, she estimated. Along with scholarships, Murtlow said, the legislature needs to make a “significant investment” in helping to create more high-quality seats.

Consensus seems to exist on widening income eligibility to 185 percent of the federal poverty level (about $44,900 per year for a family of four), said Rep. Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis. He said lawmakers also could consider allowing children who receive pre-K scholarships to continue at their school in kindergarten with a private-school voucher.

Behning said the House has not settled on a funding amount – with a final amount not expected until the waning days of the legislative session in April. He said lawmakers will be “as aggressive” as they can in funding pre-K, but the pilot hasn’t been fully implemented, Behning said.

Lawmakers launched a study to track the progress of scholarship recipients through third grade. Many lawmakers have expressed an interest in waiting for the study results before committing to a major expansion of the program.

Another leader on pre-K, Rep. Holli Sullivan, said lawmakers need to explore how to responsibly expand the pilot.

“To have an honestly-crafted budget, we need to maybe take a slower approach to expansion,” said Sullivan, an Evansville Republican, “and make sure it’s a conservative pilot expansion.”

Any “significant expansion” of pre-K during the 2017 legislative session is a positive step forward, said Ted Maple, CEO of Early Learning Indiana.

“It would be a wise investment to expand it to as many children as the state deems necessary,” Maple said. “We set out a vision. We know it will take some time to reach that ultimate vision. But we know this is a critical year. It’s a budget year. There is a window of opportunity here.”

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce wants the General Assembly to "spend every dollar it can" on pre-K without putting the state in a fiscal deficit, according to a spokeswoman.

Most states successful in implementing pre-K programs have managed to reach their goals within a decade, said W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research. And advantages exist in starting out small, he said. Sacrificing quality to quickly expand pre-K can undercut the purpose of the program.

“There’s nothing wrong with an incremental approach. The question is: Will the increments get you to your goal in a reasonable period of time,” Barnett said. “And that’s the concern that leads people to sometimes move more quickly than they should because they are concerned if they don’t make progress when they have the opportunity that it won’t ever happen.”

Indiana was one of the last states to adopt some form of state-funded preschool until Gov. Mike Pence persuaded lawmakers to authorize a pilot program for low-income children in 2014. Pence initially wanted the program to serve up to 40,000 Hoosier children, but lawmakers downsized the request. He later had the opportunity to dramatically grow the program by applying for up to $80 million in federal funds but decided against it.

IndyStar reporter Tony Cook contributed to this story.

Call IndyStar reporter Chelsea Schneider at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @IndyStarChelsea.

Indiana General Assembly

The 2017 legislative session kicks off this week, with the Senate meeting 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and the House returning at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

This year’s session is a budget year where lawmakers will write a new, two-year spending plan. Lawmakers are required to wrap up their work by April 29.

Another highlight of this week is Thursday when Gov.-elect Eric Holcomb is set to lay out his legislative priorities.