Dive Brief:
- A Tennessee House Local Government Subcommittee advanced a bill Wednesday that would allow the state to cancel federal pre-K funding to two districts within the state.
- The federal government granted Shelby and Davidson counties $70 million to grow their pre-K programming, and this bill would cancel that grant if a judge ruled that the entire state must offer pre-K to all of its four-year-olds.
- The bill has already been condemned by Gov. Bill Haslam's administration.
Dive Insight:
While the governor's administration as well as two Shelby County lawmakers have expressed concern over this bill, the house subcommittee still approved it and sent it to the House.
It's difficult to understand why it would ever be a good thing to say no to federal funding, much less federal funding for pre-K.
Early education and access has been a hot topic as of late. In fact, around this time last year, it was one of the main national ed talking points as New York Mayor Bill de Blasio made a public push to provide universal pre-school to all of the city. Hillary Clinton and Rahm Emanuel are also among political heavyweights who have weighed in on the pre-K debate, speaking of the importance in giving students access to literacy opportunities at an early age.