Duncan condemns the half-day scheme proposed by Senate Republicans

The New Jersey Senate republicans faced flake for their latest proposal, calling off money for full-day preschool in urban districts.

Reportedly, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan condemned the plan and said that it was not student-friendly.

Duncan said, "I don’t think, frankly, we need another study to demonstrate the long-term benefits of quality early childhood programs.

"Scaling back on early childhood programs is something that is not in the best interest of our communities, or ultimately our states, because we have to close achievement gaps."

The proposal
The Senate Republican committee proposed funding only half-day preschools and the rest should be spent on suburban schools. They submitted their scheme to Governor Chris Christie.

Also, as per the scheme, districts could also get the state funds if more students were transported to distant locations through the bus service, or in case there were more senior citizens in the district.

“There would also be a $30 million grant program to promote accountability in urban schools and $50 million for schools that demonstrate the most efficiency,” informed a source.

Duncan protested that the half-day scheme was not applicable to most working mom and dads and would be difficult for low-income families.

Senate Republicans defend themselves
Arguing their case, the Senate Republicans were quick to defend themselves and said that New Jersey people had no choice.

"New Jersey’s broke, and if we had unlimited resources it would certainly be nice to fund all the programs under the sun, but we don’t," said Senator Michael Doherty.

The proposal was not aimed at the students, but at the taxpayers, who are reeling under the burden of funding the urban schools and so the Republicans view it as a fair deal for taxpayers.

But not accepting it, Duncan said that he had a well-charted plan that would let “states compete for $350 million in federal money to fund high-quality early childhood education.”