House makes preschool promise

The House paved the way yesterday for free preschool for thousands of Massachusetts 3- and 4-year-olds, passing a budget amendment that advocates hailed as historic.

The House's voted approval, 153 to 0, just three days after a judge recommended that Massachusetts provide free preschool to children from low-income families, to bridge inequities between rich and poor school systems.

The amendment, pushed by House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran, would set up two panels to sketch what a good preschool would look like, the type of qualifications the teachers should have, and who would run the schools.

Under the proposal, Massachusetts would create a department, commissioner, and board of early education and care by July 2005. The amendment calls for a "universally accessible, high-quality early education and care program for 3- and 4-year-old children." It also would place preschool under a single agency, unlike the current system, which can be confusing to parents because several state departments oversee preschool and child care.

Finneran, a Mattapan Democrat, acknowledged that the amendment is a baby step toward serving all of the state's 160,000 3- and 4-year-olds.

"It's a commitment to a cause, and a commitment to a structure and an organization that will advance that cause," Finneran told reporters after the vote, flanked by legislators and early-education advocates, one of whom slapped a sticker promoting early education on the speaker's lapel. "It's a commitment that's going to last a long time because this is a lifelong commitment," Finneran said.

Setting up the two panels would cost about $90,000. But neither Finneran nor his cosponsors would say how much the initiative would cost if fully implemented or how the state would pay for it. The proposal matches a bill by the advocacy group Early Education For All, which envisions phased-in preschool that would cost $1.2 billion over 10 years and $1.2 billion annually after that. However, that program includes 5-year-olds.

The price tag "will be a substantial one," Finneran said. "I'm not prepared to say specifically what it might be. I would guess we'll have to be working on that over the next year or two or three."

The amendment, attached to the House's 2005 budget proposal, requires Governor Mitt Romney's approval to become law. The governor's press office referred calls to Ronald Preston, secretary of health and human services, who said he welcomes Finneran's efforts. Preston could not say whether Romney would sign the amendment. But he said the Legislature ordered a study last year of preschool access and standards, which did not call for a new agency, as Finneran's amendment does.

"We are more than willing to work with the House and him on these issues. We're just very surprised he's talking about yet one more state department to deal with," Preston said.

The amendment quickly followed Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margot Botsford's decision in the state's landmark school-finance lawsuit. Botsford, whose findings head to the Supreme Judicial Court for final approval, called for preschool targeted to low-income 3- and 4-year-olds with certified teachers.

Norma Shapiro, president of the Council for Fair School Finance, a statewide group that filed the suit, said the proposal could satisfy Botsford's ruling if done properly. But she said Finneran's amendment is not clear enough on what constitutes a high-quality program, a part of the judge's recommendation. Nationally, only Georgia has preschool for 4-year-olds regardless of income. Other states are moving slowly, said Adele Robinson of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Some, like Florida, are struggling to find the money.

About 64,000 of the state's 160,000 3- and 4-year-olds are not in a preschool. Margaret Blood, director of the advocacy group Early Education For All, said the amendment is a big step. "Members of both parties said that young children are a priority for the Commonwealth," Blood said.