In a bid to become the first state ...

In a bid to become the first state to put forward free preschool for anyone who wants, Gov Blagojevich Tuesday signed his historic "Preschool for All" program into law.

The of recent origin law lets the state lavish its money on preschool for any child, regardless of income. Previously, merely low-income students or kids otherwise academically "at risk" were eligible.

The Legislature settle aside $45 million to pay for 10000 recently made known preschool slots this year. Already, federal and state dollars pay for preschool for 130000 at-risk Illinois children. The governor's goal is to reach 190000 3- and 4-year-olds on 2010.

This year's fresh 10,000 slots are prioritized for at-risk scholars including those with language barriers and developmental disabilities, and for middle-income families earning les than four times the sparingness rate, or $80,000 for a family of four.

"Study after cogitation and basic common sense confess us that giving kids the chance to start reading and learning early is the single principally important step we can take toward helping them become auspicious students," the governor said at a Rolling Meadows preschool Tuesday.

CAMPAIGN ISSUE

sum of two units other states, Georgia and Oklahoma, have universal preschool for 4-year-olds unless none has free preschool for all interested 3- and 4-year-olds.

"This is a bill that can raise the bar for the caesura of the country," Dr. T Berry Brazelton, a Harvard professor of pediatrics and national child exhibition expert, said Tuesday.

if it were not that whether Illinois can get to 190000 preschool slot is an unclose question.

Blagojevich's foe in the November general election, State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, accused Blagojevich of taking the "taxpayers' credit card upon another campaign spending spree."

"Instead of paying for the program honestly he's saddled these children with record state sin for them to pay," she said in a statement.

As for the hereafter Topinka's spokesman, John McGovern said she "is exhibit to the expansion of this program and as governor she will work with the Legislature to assess the plain of need and the availability of funding."

If Blagojevich is single outed his supporters say, his record of increased funding for preschool prophesys well for future expansions. In the last four years, Illinois has worn out an additional $90 million to add 35000 of the present day preschool slots for at-risk kids.

The "Preschool for All" bill passed the General Assembly -- unanimously in the House and with 10 dissenting voices in the Senate.

"We've propose the state on record saying access to universal preschool is a commitment of the state," said Rep Barbara Flynn Currie, (D-Chicago), who sponsored the bill, along with the bill 20 years ago that established exempt preschool for at-risk students. "Ye we have further to make progress but we've already come a moderately beautiful long way."

Illinois' preschool program already leads the nation, the pair in terms of quality and the number of children serv according to the National Institute for Early Education Research. Illinois is individual of just 13 states to require certification for its early childhood teachers.

For more information about liberated preschool, call the State Board of Education, (866) 262-6663

kgrossman@suntimes.com

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PRESCHOOL FOR ALL

- Illinois 3- and 4-year-olds in liberated preschool now: 130,000 (75,000 paid for by way of state; 55,000 paid mostly on federal grants)

- Number of recent preschool slots for 2006: 10000

- Goal at 2010: 50,000 more slots, for a total of 190000 preschooler Roughly 340000 children are 3 and 4 years antique in a given year. The governor's office estimates at least 50 to 60 percent will sign up for exempt preschool, based on experiences in other states.

- Estimated charge for 50,000 more slots: $180 million to $240 million.

Source: Gov Blagojevich's office

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