HB3435 renames the “Oregon Prekindergarten Program” to the “Oregon Prenatal to Kindergarten Program,” and provides that children are eligible to enroll in the program until they enter kindergarten, regardless of age.
The Housed passed HB3435 on April 11, 2023, by a vote of 47 to 9. We have assigned pluses to the nays because education is not the role of government. A child’s education is the responsibility of—and a fundamental right of choice retained by—his or her parents. Moreover, this bill further expands the government’s monopoly on preK-12 education through a ‘cradle-to-grave’ type of taxpayer-funded program that seeks to displace traditional private preschooling in favor of state-sponsored universal preschooling. Its exchange of public subsidies for curriculum and other regulatory controls effectively turns all participating preschools into government preschools. Educational freedom cannot be obtained by forcing the citizens of Oregon to hand over more of their hard-earned tax dollars to support a compulsory, failing, and government-run school system, which violates their individual liberties under the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment.