Topeka — House leaders were encouraged by a strong bipartisan vote Thursday advancing a $29.4 million education package designed to improve reading, writing and math skills in the early grades.
By a 93-14 vote 18 members did not participate House members tentatively approved the bill. Final action is expected today.
"It was an extremely strong vote," said House Speaker Kent Glasscock, R-Manhattan. "If we can sustain that vote overnight, it would send a positive note to the Senate on an issue we think is extremely important to the education of our children."
Minority Leader Jim Garner, D-Coffeyville, said the package nicknamed "Tools for Tots" by supporters is a smart proposal for education that helps children who need it most.
At the heart of the measure is the goal that 90 percent of all third-graders achieve proficiency in reading, writing and math, the so-called "skills for success" in academics and life.
The plan mirrors the Bush administration's "No Child Left Behind" program, which would target resources at improving skills in early grades.
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 spending on programs for at-risk preschoolers, improve remedial first-grade reading programs, and begin testing third-graders' proficiency.
The state would tap its share of the national tobacco settlement and use general tax revenues to pay for the plan but not increase taxes.
Rep. Ralph Tanner, chairman of the House Education Committee, noted concern that the bill may be "dead on arrival" in the Senate because some senators want a bigger increase in education funding.
"It doesn't carry the money that is in two other plans out there," said Tanner, R-Baldwin.
Tanner added that the bill will face heavy lobbying from the Kansas Association of School Boards and Kansas National Education Assn., which don't think it spends enough.
Gov. Bill Graves and a group of senators have presented plans that raise the sales tax and increase elementary and secondary spending by more than $100 million.
Rep. Bill Reardon, ranking Democrat on the education committee and a 38-year veteran of teaching in public schools, said the House bill gives districts the means to address a real need.
Reardon said he has witnessed students in his Kansas City district who were functioning below grade level long before they reached high school.
"For years, elementary teachers have known that early interventions could make a difference than a later one," Reardon said.
However, the bill faced opposition.
Rep. Sue Storm, D-Prairie Village, said the package is ill-conceived and not what educators need or want. She said the vision espoused is the vision she and local districts have had for years.
"Do we just want them to be accountable to the Legislature?" Storm said. "That might be fine if we funded schools where they should be all along."
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