Commentary: Florida's sorry pre-K program defies voters, shortchanges kids

The latest early education stats are out. And once again, they show that few places in America do a sorrier job preparing kids for kindergarten than Florida.

Basically, we serve a lot of kids, but serve them poorly … making us like the Taco Bell of early education.

So says the National Institute for Early Education Research, which surveys all of America’s pre-K programs each to see how many clear 10 key “benchmarks” that check for things like qualified teachers, basic learning standards, reasonable class sizes and vision and hearing screening.

Out of 10 benchmarks, Florida cleared four. That’s like an F-minus.

Most states with programs meet from seven to all 10 standards. That includes Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi. Yes, Florida trails Kentucky in early education.

The results are predictably pathetic. Our kids start school behind the curve and often finish their lives the same way.

Florida spends about $3,000 a year on each preschooler and $30,000 on each inmate. Talk about stupid spending.

If you don’t see correlation, check the research. It shows that kids with access to quality preschool are not only more likely to do well in elementary school, but to graduate from high school, get married, stay married and even stay out of jail.

Why? Because 90% of a human’s brain is formed within the first five years. So that’s when we must teach kids how to think and use logic, how to use words instead of fists when something angers them.

Most of you already know this. Floridians voted overwhelmingly in 2002 to provide pre-K education to every 4-year-old in the state.

And not just any pre-K, but “high quality” pre-K. That quality requirement was so important to backers of the constitutional amendment that they included the phrase four different times in the ballot text and summary.

Unfortunately, Florida lawmakers didn’t do as instructed. They were more interested in early happy hours than early education. So they reacted petulantly, funding the program at one of the lowest levels in America — $4.62 an hour per child for just three hours a day.

If you think that’s “high quality,” you probably think the Dollar Tree belongs on Park Avenue. You can’t get a babysitter for $5 an hour, much less a qualified teacher.

The amount was so low that then-Gov. Jeb Bush blasted legislators for short-changing kids and defying voters. He urged them to change the funding.

And they did … they lowered it. Former Gov. Rick Scott and GOP legislators actually cut a program that was already one of the worst-funded in America.

Instead, they opted to provide more tax cuts for businesses with refunds that went to only 1% of Florida corporations.

In subsequent years, lawmakers provided anemic boosts. But funding today is still a measly $3,000 per child — less, when adjusted for inflation, than when the program was launched nearly two decades ago.

Some people might think: Well, it’s probably too expensive to properly fund pre-K. It’s not. Florida has plenty of cash.

Don’t take it from me. Take it from the governor himself, who boasted earlier this year: “We’ve got a big budget surplus. I don’t know what to do with all this money, the surplus is so big.”

Unsurprisingly, Gov. Ron DeSantis and GOP lawmakers found other ways to spend the money. Bigger budgets for tourism promotion. More travel by the governor. Waging (and losing) scores of costly legal battles.

Properly funding pre-K simply wasn’t a top priority. Yet again.

Florida is a state full of politicians who claim to zealously care about the unborn but who pay kids little attention once they leave the womb.

With its anemic funding and quality, Florida’s pre-K adequately prepares 64% of kids for kindergarten, according to the state’s own data. Imagine what we could do for kids if we just strived to provide average funding.

In the recent Sentinel story, a leader of the National Institute of Early Education Research wondered why no Floridian had sued lawmakers for failing to honor the constitutional requirement to provide “high quality” pre-K. He seemed confident they would win.

I’ll tell you why. Because there’s no high-powered lobbying corps for 4-year-olds. Preschoolers are ignored by callous politicians for the same reason that Floridians with profound disabilities linger on years-long waiting lists for services they’re qualified to receive.

The young and vulnerable don’t cut big campaign checks. The only real advocates they have are parents and voters.

We have one of the lowest investments in pre-K and one of America’s higher incarceration rates. If you think we can do better, vote like it.

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