Southern independence group joins opposition to pre-K

It was the second group to come out against the initiative, joining a conservative think tank.

Pre-K puts 4-year olds under the control of educators who want to “indoctrinate them as obedient and subservient slaves to the government,” a statement released by the Tennessee League of the South states.

David Jones, education director for the group, said at a Capitol news conference the state’s proposal to expand pre-K is too expensive and offers no benefit for children too young for school.

A statement by the group stated Gov. Phil Bredesen’s plan means all the state’s 4-year olds will be “ripped from mothers’ arms and hustled off” to pre-kindergarten classrooms at a cost of $1 billion per year.

Jones said the Tennessee Education Association supports the expansion to because it would expand the union’s membership and budget.

“That’s ridiculous,” TEA spokesman Jerry Winters said. “Pre-kindergarten programs have a proven track record of success. Our position has nothing to do with the association, it’s for the kids.”

Jones said Bredesen plans to make the voluntary program mandatory.

A Bredesen spokeswoman said there are no plans to make pre-K compulsory.

The governor has asked the General Assembly to increase the state’s $10 million pre-K program to $35 million by this fall with a one-time boost from lottery money. If approved, Bredesen has vowed to add money to the program every year he’s in office.

The cost is expected to eventually be between $200 million to $300 million a year.

Bill sponsor Sen. Don McLeary, D-Jackson, said the League of the South’s claims are wrong. The program will remain voluntary and affordable, he said.

The Tennessee Center for Policy Research, a Nashville-based conservative think tank, also recently came out against pre-K, calling its purpose educationally unsound and “financially risky.”

The League of the South advocates the eventual end of public education in favor of community-based schools controlled by the families of their students, Jones said.

Jones said the group has chapters in Knoxville, Chattanooga and other cities. The Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center classifies the group as neo-conservative.

Other than lobbying legislators and holding a news conference, the group is not mounting a public relations campaign against pre-K, Jones said.

“We don’t even have a bank account,” he said.

McLeary said he believes the pre-K plan has widespread public and political approval and the groups opposing it will not stop its passage in the General Assembly.