First Steps a program conservatives can get behind

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First Steps enjoys the support of nearly all liberals and many conservatives, particularly on the local level where its programs are designed and administered. But many other conservatives criticize what they deem a big-government social program.

First Steps became somewhat of a campaign issue in 2002 because it was Gov. Jim Hodges' initiative, and while those who called for its ultimate destruction lost, Gov. Mark Sanford insisted it undergo more scrutiny. However, First Steps can and should operate as a conservative program that properly marries state and local entities in the pursuit of public education.

Perhaps the most difficult thing about discussing First Steps is explaining what it is. The legislation that created First Steps declares its purpose as "providing grants to local partnerships to provide services and support to children and their families to enable children to reach school ready to learn." Basically this means the Legislature will support parents in their efforts to prepare their children for success in an all-day academic environment.

The ambiguity and widely dispersed control alert many conservatives to potential mischief. Indeed, localities have created all sorts of programs that seem to many like nothing more than nanny-state welfare. For instance, Richland County offers one aimed at increasing knowledge about nutrition while Lexington County promotes parenting skills.

Some instinctually question the involvement of the state in these sorts of personal matters. But modern understanding of child development unequivocally indicates the importance of a child's first five years in their later academic performance.

As for the specific programs, some counties operate more effectively than others, and some counties need to start all over again. More importantly, after four years, we know more about which programs work and which do not, and most in Greenville County epitomize the former. Indeed, Republicans in the Legislature recognize the excellence of Greenville County First Steps. The Legislature should now allow flexibility within a certain list of known successful options and thus further guarantee results.

Ah, the results. There's the rub. Prior to the inception of First Steps, South Carolina used a universal assessment tool, CSAB, to determine first-grade readiness. The Department of Education abolished it in 1999, and now we have no reliable statewide means of determining the success of readiness programs. Greenville, fortunately, uses a strong screening tool (DIAL 3) to assess individual improvement, and therefore program success, over the 4K year. But, a statewide assessment must be reinstated if First Steps is to be evaluated and supported by the Assembly.

And before anyone responds that some children test poorly, the point is to grade not the child but the program. CSAB never kept anyone out of first grade, it simply evaluated the overall picture.

First Steps must also enhance the involvement of the private sector. Private providers, if they show results, must have equal access to First Steps dollars. Once the Legislature determines the appropriate level of funding and the legitimate list of program options, and ensures private sector accessibility, it ought to step out of the planning and simply await the results. If the results disappoint, the Legislature should step in. If not, everyone's happy.

Actually, First Steps already closely resembles the very structure many conservatives want in federal education policy. President Bush campaigned on the idea of block granting education money to the states and allowing some local experimentation, subject to both rigorous assessment and demonstrated results.

Conservative groups such as the Heritage Foundation endorsed Bush's original No Child Left Behind legislation for "consolidating programs into performance-based grants to the states and districts, giving them flexibility in determining how to use the grants to fit the unique needs of their student populations, requiring these programs to produce evidence that they are boosting academic achievement. ..." With very few modifications, that might describe First Steps.

The conservative case for First Steps is that the education of young children is a legitimate pursuit of the state. For the same reasons — moral, practical, economic and social — that we support public K-12 education, we should support the development of children before they get to kindergarten. Their tutelage needs to include the private sector to the greatest extent possible, and the results must be verifiable. Beyond that, programs that teach everything from hygiene to color identification are all a means to that end. And if it works, a conservative should protect it.

Danny Varat, a native and resident of Greenville, holds a doctorate in history from the University of Mississippi. He has taught history at Clemson, Furman and USC-Spartanburg, and he writes frequently about South Carolina public policy. He can be reached at danny.varat@furman.edu.