EXCERPT FROM: Firstcoastnews.com
By Dave Wax, Ann Butler, Erich Spivey
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida House Pre K-12 Appropriations Committee voted today to reduce per-student funding for pre-kindergarten by about 1 percent, rather than the originally proposed 15 percent, or $400.
The House version of the bill proposed to cut funding from $2,575 per student to $2,190; the Senate version set the funding at $2,200.
Susan Main, executive director of the Early Learning Coalition of Duval County, said quality would have suffered with a 15 percent cut.
"Every year the children who do a voluntary prekindergarten program do better on the kindergarten readiness assessment than children who do not take advantage of the program. This program is working," said Main.
She said she had feared some of Duval County's roughly 400 providers would drop their pre-kindergarten programs if cuts went too deep.
The ELC of Duval campaigned to raise awareness, and took the campaign to the state capitol to convince the legislature not to reduce funding for pre-kindergarten students.
A group of Jacksonville day care operators and early learning educators left at 7 a.m. today to speak out against the budget cuts.
One pointed out they can't pass the cost on to parents who put their children in the programs. The school must remain free, the educators said.