Topeka — A bipartisan group of House members outlined a $29.4 million plan Monday to ensure that by 2010, all Kansas children will enter fourth grade able to read, write and do math.
"For the first time there is a strong bipartisan commitment to early childhood education in the state of Kansas," House Speaker Kent Glasscock, R-Manhattan, said.
House Speaker Kent Glasscock, R-Manhattan, at podium, and House Minority Leader Jim Garner, D-Coffeyville, center left, are backed by Republican and Democratic representatives as they announce their comprehensive education plan at the Statehouse in Topeka. The $29.4 million plan announced Monday is designed to make sure children can read, write and do math by the end of the third grade.
Glasscock and Minority Leader Jim Garner were joined at a news conference by 61 House members who support the proposal a majority in the 125-seat chamber.
"The specifics of this are aimed at that common goal, to make sure that kids are achieving the basic skills they need to succeed in their educational pursuits," said Garner, D-Coffeyville.
For the 2002 fiscal year, which starts July 1, the plan would set aside $7.5 million to develop tests for third-graders, train teachers and define school readiness.
In fiscal year 2003, the state would spend $21.9 million to extend learning time in kindergarten through third grade, increase funding for 4-year-old at-risk preschoolers, improve remedial first-grade reading programs, and begin testing third-graders' proficiency.
The plan would be financed from the state's share of the national tobacco settlement and from state tax revenues, without increasing taxes. Glasscock said legislators who worked on the proposal developed their vision for education first, then paired it with dollars, and not the other way around as is typical in the Legislature.
"We did it right," he said. "We didn't do it backward."
House Education Committee Chairman Ralph Tanner, R-Baldwin City, said members would finish work on the proposal Tuesday. The committee has needed more time because of the plan's complexity, he said.
Education lobbyists have expressed reluctance to support the plan, citing programs already in place and the perception that the Legislature is taking local control away by creating a one-size-fits-all plan.
Monday's announcement came a week after Gov. Bill Graves rolled out his plan to increase funding for elementary and secondary schools by $112 million in the next fiscal year.
His plan adds $110 to the base state aid per pupil, to $3,930 from the current $3,820; increases special education spending; and sets aside $34 million in education incentives.
Lt. Gov. Gary Sherrer said Monday the two proposals were not mutually exclusive. Having the House plan added to Graves' proposal and a third plan drafted by four senators is healthy for the debate, he said.
However, Sherrer said he has concerns about where the money will come from in 2003, citing budget projections for little or no rise in state revenue.
Sherrer said the timing of the House plan puts to rest the "silly" notion that it is too late in the current legislative session to discuss school finance a criticism leveled at Graves last week by some House members.
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