About 50 Republican legislators implored Montana’s congressional delegation to reject $40 million in federal preschool grant funding in an August letter.
The move left Gov. Steve Bullock literally throwing up his hands while speaking to teachers recently. Bullock pushed a failed state-funded preschool initiative this fall.
He joked that he was pretty sure Republican legislators hated him, not 4-year-olds, when they refused to add a $37 million proposal to fund a 4-year-old preschool program in the state budget while hammering out a deal in April.
After seeing the letter, “I start to worry that some of them might hate 4-year-olds too,” he said.
The letter argues that the “creation of government-provided ‘free’ preschools will most certainly drive existing private preschools from the market.” Montana is one of only six states without any state investment in preschool programs.