posted May 8, 2008
The group Stand for Children today called on Gov. Phil Bredesen and the Tennessee General Assembly to "find revenue alternatives in order to fund continued expansion of the state’s voluntary Pre-Kindergarten program as well as improvements to the BEP."
“We greatly appreciate Governor Bredesen’s leadership on Pre-K and his work with Sen. Jamie Woodson and the legislature in 2007 to pass BEP 2.0,” said Andy Spears, cirector of policy and outreach at Stand for Children.
“Phil Bredesen has been an education leader. But, this budget is disappointing and we believe more can and should be done to fund our schools.”
Mr. Spears acknowledged that this is a difficult budget year, but suggested using lottery funds to pay for expansion of Pre-K classrooms.
“Lottery money can and should be used to expand Pre-K,” he said. “These difficult economic times make it even more difficult for low-income families to afford quality childcare. Pre-K is one way to help fill that gap. Plus, it is dollar-for-dollar the best investment our state can make in public education.”
Mr. Spears also said a proposal to close the corporate tax loophole as envisioned in SB3158/HB3182 could be used to mitigate the current revenue shortfall.
“We support closing the corporate tax loophole as a means of generating revenue for this fiscal year and for years to come,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do, it could be used to provide a food tax break, and the remaining revenue would be significant. Of course, we’d like to see those monies invested in our public schools through a renewed commitment to BEP 2.0.
“From what we’ve heard so far, we’d say this budget earns a grade of C. We’d like for Gov. Bredesen and the legislature to work a little harder and make it an A. Our children and our schools deserve a stronger, better effort.”
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