Florida’s pre-K in need of funding

Want to know the difference between you and your average Florida politician?

OK, so there are probably many. I mean, I’m guessing you don’t take marching orders from lobbyists. Or sleep with them.

But another key difference is that, if you learn something isn’t working — say your fridge — you probably want to fix it. Not Florida politicians. They’d just yap about the problem and let it fester.

This has been their approach to Florida’s sad-sack pre-K program. Lawmakers it’s a problem. Florida’s pre-K meets only two of the 10 standards recommended by the National Institute for Early Education Research.

We rank 41st in funding, trailing states like Alabama and Arkansas. (In football, that might be OK. Not education.) And more than 40% of the kids who complete the state’s pre-K program fail to meet the

for kindergarten readiness.

So the politicians know they’re providing substandard services. But they haven’t done squat about it. In fact, they actually cut funding some years.

Florida now spends about $2,400 per preschooler; about $14 a day. Not even enough to hire a babysitter for three hours.

To put that in perspective, Florida spends about a third of what West Virginia spends on its pre-K program.

Yes, we trail West Virginia. By a lot. In education. Not moonshine stills. Finally, legislators are now talking about reform. But instead of proposing new funding, they’re proposing new tests … for 4-year-olds.