Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey
Gov. Phil Bredesen

NASHVILLE — Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen differed with Republican lawmakers Thursday as the governor said it would be a “terrible, terrible mistake” not to extend prekindergarten opportunities beyond poorer children currently served.

“These classrooms are expensive,” Gov. Bredesen said.

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, and other Republicans have resisted Gov. Bredesen’s plans to increase pre-k spending by $25 million.

“How do you say to a middle class family, ... ‘You pay taxes for them, and they are public schools, but you’re not allowed to send your children into one of these classrooms?’” Gov. Bredesen said.

Gov. Bredesen’s defense of making pre-k universally available came in a speech to the Tennessee Press Association, an organization representing newspapers.

Earlier, Lt. Gov. Ramsey told TPA editors and publishers that he and the governor disagree on universal pre-k.

“I’ll say that if you’re (in) a certain at-risk population then there’s no doubt about the fact that the studies show it will help,” he said. However, “when you get into universal pre-k, I think you definitely get into diminishing returns if not just no returns at all in certain aspects.”

Lt. Gov. Ramsey said state finances are “tight” this year, and asked, “Is this the time that you’re adding more classes at the same time we know there are other areas to be addressed?”

State officials estimate that the state faces a $182 million shortfall in the current budget year.

Gov. Bredesen’s budget proposal calls for $25 million to create an estimated 250 new pre-k classrooms for 4-year-olds as he pushes to make pre-k universally available by the time he leaves office in 2011. The state currently is spending some $80 million to fund 934 pre-k classrooms that serve some 17,300 children.

Stephanie Rubin, director of the national advocacy group, Pre-K Now, said this week that a Georgetown University study of the Tulsa, Okla., pre-k program found it benefited all children academically.

“What the Tulsa study shows is that middle-income children do benefit from pre-k and benefit dramatically. ... We need to be investing in pre-k, not only for at-risk children but for middle-income children as well,” Ms. Rubin said.

Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Jaime Woodson, R-Knoxville, said that when it comes to pre-k, Tennessee lawmakers “don’t have the luxury of dealing with budget issues in a vacuum.”

She said that Gov. Bredesen proposed spending $86.5 million to continue reforming the state’s Basic Education Program funding formula for kindergarten through 12th grade when lawmakers had expected $100 million.

“We really need to finish the job and move this as far as we can. ... There’s also higher education,” Sen. Woodson said.