Letters: Public school can handle preschool

NEIFPE member Anne Duff wrote this letter about preschool.

Public school can handle preschool

February 10, 2014 3:00 a.m.

I truly don’t know what our legislators are thinking with House Bill 1004 that so conveniently sneaks in voucher expansion. I am for fully funding all-day kindergarten and preschool, and I am also completely for giving this early childhood education initiative to our already-capable public schools. If you have ever visited Bunche Montessori Early Childhood Center, a public Montessori preschool that is part of Fort Wayne Community Schools, you will see children are fully engaged in learning, doing works of their choice, investigating, creating and developing practical life skills. You will see children as young as 4 reading and doing math. You will see young children fall in love with learning. I am strongly opposed to Section 10 of HB 1004, which expands the voucher program. I am also opposed to giving the responsibility of preschool to private institutions. I am opposed to private preschools receiving public tax dollars as well as private schools hurriedly expanding their programs to offer preschool so that they can receive our tax dollars. In fact, I believe our public schools are more than capable of handling this initiative. I hope there is an amendment to HB 1004. I believe the state’s preschool proposal is important enough to stand on its own, without Section 10 of HB 1004. I wish our legislators would allow our public schools to do what they do best – teach all children equally; accept all children fairly; provide for our children what our democracy has promised them – an equal opportunity for education. That is what I want to see happen.

ANNE DUFF Fort Wayne