DAY CARE AT SCHOOL NEEDS CAREFUL REVIEW

Plans to provide more early-childhood education and school-based day-care facilities, formally proposed by Gov. Mel Carnahan in his State of the State Address last week, has a long way to go before being adopted by the Missouri Legislature.

The plan is premised on the idea that pre-kindergarten youngsters would benefit from more educational opportunities. Most teachers and school administrators -- as well as a good many parents -- have long recognized that teaching children in their formative years is important and extends to children much younger than the traditional kindergarten age of 5.

Many programs have been developed to address this need, including the popular and apparently effective Parents as Teachers program administered through many school districts. This is one program that capitalizes on parental involvement with their own children and, in a structured way, prepares those youngsters for the formal learning experiences of kindergarten and the grades beyond.

Under Carnahan's proposal -- which echoes, in many ways, the Clinton administration's theme for more government involvement in preschool education and expanded day care -- state government would assume more and more responsibility for raising children. The combination of day care and education would be left up to local school districts, and parents who could afford it would be expected to pay for these extra services.

As the governor pointed out, some schools districts, mostly in urban areas, already have developed day-care programs, citing the need for youngsters to have a place to go in areas where commercial or church-based centers aren't available.

Funding for the governor's plan would come from entrance fees charged by riverboat casinos in the state. Children from poor families would be eligible for subsidies, all of which is figured into the estimated annual cost of $56 million.

As Superintendent Dan Tallent of the Cape Girardeau School District noted, there is a need for more early-childhood education. But the cost of developing a new program is the major consideration, particularly for a district that is, under current law, kept from receiving any annual increases in state funding.

One thing is clear: If the need exists in any community for public schools to go into the day-care business, there also is an opportunity for private enterprise to offer services at rates parents can afford. It would be unwise for any school district to go into competition with existing day-care centers.