A bill to set standards for pre-kindergarten programs in South Dakota stalled Tuesday when a legislative committee couldn't kill it or pass it.

The House Education Committee was deadlocked 7-7 on SB26, which will get another vote Thursday. (Rep. Jim Bradford, D-Pine Ridge, was absent for the vote.)

Supporters of the measure said many studies show that high-quality pre-kindergarten programs for children in poverty can reduce drop-out rates and even crime years later.

"Standards are what're needed to assure that quality," said Susan Randall, executive director of South Dakota Voices for Children.

Randall also said a Zogby International poll last month of likely South Dakota voters showed that 73 percent support pre-kindergarten standards. (The poll found that 78 percent of West River voters supported the standards.)

Opponents warned that the bill was the first step toward universal, state-funded preschools.

"This bill isn't mandatory yet, but I'm sure it soon will be," said Linda Grass of Rapid City, who was a private child-care provider for 16 years. "When it is unleashed on the taxpayers, the teachers, the parents and the 3- and 4-year-olds, I would expect it to be disastrous."

Deputy Education Secretary Deb Barnett insisted the standards would be voluntary for private preschools, and she said no children would be required to attend pre-kindergarten programs. "We're not interested in any kind of mandatory program," Barnett said. "We are not usurping the role of the family and have no intention of doing so. We want to support families."

An amended version of the bill also would establish an Early Learning Commission of lawmakers, educators, preschool providers and others to recommend rules that would be issued by the department.

Several committee members, however, objected to passing legislation before they had seen the rules themselves. "Show us how the program will work," Rep. Mike Buckingham, R-Rapid City, said.

Rep. Jeff Haverly, R-Rapid City, who operates two child-care centers, also opposed the bill.

He said his centers already complied with rigorous Head Start federal standards, but he argued that if older children moved to accredited programs, parents of younger kids would pay a price. "If you take 4- and 5-year-olds out of my program, guess what happens to my infant costs?" Haverly said. "They're going to double."

SB26 is supported by the South Dakota Education Association and the Associated School Boards of South Dakota

Conservative groups, such as the South Dakota Eagle Forum, spoke against the plan.

"It's a very bad socialist idea," Kitty Werthmann of the South Dakota Eagle Forum said. She predicted it would become "a huge welfare program."

Contact Bill Harlan at 394-8424 or bill.harlan@rapidcityjournal.com