Clarification: We've updated the story to make the funding comparisons more clear.
In his State of the State address last week, Governor Snyder called for $1.2 billion a year over the next ten years to address the “toughest single issue” of 2013: roads.
At the same time, Snyder called for an increase in funding to early childhood education.
The governor mentioned the 29,000 four-year-olds eligible for a spot in the state’s Great Start Readiness preschool program (GSRP).
It would cost $140 million in additional funding to see all of them enrolled, but the governor doesn’t yet have a plan for where that money would come from.
So, that $1.2 billion for roads is a must, but $140 million for at-risk kids is a little steep.
State of Opportunity’s Jennifer Guerra breaks down what the lack of funding means for families with kids left out of GSRP, and speaks with Republican state senator Roger Kahn about why he is pushing so hard to find the $140 million in pre-K funding.
Visit State of Opportunity to learn more about how the state prioritizes education funding.
