Pre-K resolve

The recognition by Gov. Beverly Perdue that the state should follow a judge's decision on pre-kindergarten programs for all at-risk children in North Carolina is important. That she has proposed to the General Assembly a gradual increase in children enrolled in the program and seeks the needed funding is just as important.

Republicans in charge of the General Assembly these days continue to hold to their contention that there must be enrollment caps on pre-K programs for those at-risk kids, and that parents should have to pay a fee. Wake Superior Court Judge Howard Manning Jr. ruled earlier this year, however, that the state has an obligation to provide pre-K access, and without a fee.

Manning is the judge charged by the state Supreme Court with following through on a ruling in the now-famous Leandro case that the state has a constitutional obligation to provide an equal opportunity for a "sound basic education" for all children. The judge's ruling on the pre-K obligation tracks with that constitutional promise.

Perdue wants $30 million to fund 6,300 new spots in the pre-K program next year. Thousands more children would be added, and millions more dollars needed, in the next five years. Republicans resist the move, insisting that Manning will be overruled on appeal. The truth is, they haven't a clue.

In the meantime, this state, with 67,000 children estimated to fit the "at-risk" category of kids who would qualify for the pre-K program, needs to answer its obligations to these kids because it is right, fair and smart. It's no longer debatable as to whether pre-K programs help youngsters get a better start in school. We know they do. And all children should have a chance at that start.