Robert P. Casey Jr.
Casey pushes expanding pre-K programs
July 27, 2007
Source: The Morning Call
By Josh Drobnyk
Sen. Bob Casey Jr. appeared alongside Sen. Hillary Clinton on Wednesday to pitch legislation that would vastly expand states' pre-kindergarten education programs.
But a major roadblock -- how to pay for it -- remains before Casey can even kick-start support for the initiative, one of the freshman senator's top priorities in his first six months in office.
Casey, D-Pa., who spoke about the initiative at a forum sponsored by the liberal think tank the Center for American Progress, wants to spend $35 billion in federal money over the next five years to give states the chance to either start up or expand access to pre-kindergarten education programs. He said he supports repealing the tax cuts that took effect in 2001 for those earning more than $200,000 to help pay for the initiative, which he argues is necessary to give children from low-income families a better chance to succeed in school.
Under Casey's bill, children whose families earn less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level -- about $41,000 for a family of four -- could attend preschool for free. States would have to provide a 50 percent match to receive federal funds.
Casey disputed that funding was blocking the initiative.
"I don't think there is any question that there is more than enough money to pay for this program," Casey said, referring to the tens of billions of dollars in tax cuts that Congress has approved under the Bush administration.
And while his bill -- introduced in May -- has only one co-sponsor, Casey said that will soon change.
"We will get overwhelming Democratic support for this," he said.
Pennsylvania has put its own money toward pre-kindergarten education, passing a state budget earlier this month that includes $75 million to provide preschool to 11,000 children beginning in the fall.
Clinton, D-N.Y., said she planned to offer her bill, similar to Casey's, as an amendment in the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act that is expected to come up in the fall.
