Who would be so heartless to oppose a constitutional amendment permit- ting the appropriation of public funds for private early childhood education programs to help the state meet its goal of providing an early learning system for the children of Hawaii?

Certainly not Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who reiterated in his State of the State address last month that early childhood education remained his top priority.

So comes Senate Bill 1084: Proposing an Amendment to Article X, Section 1, of the Hawaii State Constitution to Permit the Appropriation of Public Funds for Private Early Childhood Education Programs. Sounds good, does it not?

Except for the "public" and "private" references.

Those words are why rational citizens were wary of provisions of former President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

The thrust of both was the attempt to institutionalize voucher systems for private schools to supplant public education.

The difference was NCLB was less direct in targeting public schools, although provisions were leading to parents opting for government vouchers to pay for private schools where public schools were found "failing" by federal standards.

That language was buried in that omnibus legislation. However, in Hawaii’s bill, the very title of it calls for state funds to be appropriated for private purposes.

Most public school teachers wholeheartedly support early childhood education, but not for private schools funded by taxpayers. The Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA) and the National Education Associa- tion (NEA) are unequivocally opposed to any privatization or subcontracting that has the potential to reduce the resources that otherwise would be available to achieve and/or maintain quality public education, or the potential to otherwise negatively affect public education. Such privatization also would allow public funds to be used for religious education or other religious purposes, weaken- ing the wall between church and state.

Both groups also point out that private school funding by government places the economic security of public education employees at risk without regard to individual job performance to allow for private employees who may not be under the same circumspection.

Finally, HSTA and NEA contend that voucher systems have the effect of causing or maintaining racial segregation in public schools. A tour of private schools in this state would support this contention, with many seeming very homogenous ethnically for one reason or another.

Many have viewed NCLB as a Republican attempt to do away with public education, because private schools would somehow do it better. Really? Public school teachers here will tell you that many of the students transferring from private schools here have to be "caught up" with their studies, since they had fallen behind.

Now comes the "liberal" Democrat we elected as governor lobbying in favor of SB 1084. Abercrombie billed himself as an "education governor" to win the endorsement of HSTA and, consequently, his election. Yet he turned on the teachers when it came to negotiating a new contract. Former Gov. Linda Lingle’s furloughs became Abercrombie’s "Directed Leave Without Pay." And he seemingly embraces Wisconsin’s Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s refusal to negotiate when it comes to collective bargaining.

If Abercrombie’s educational priorities lie with early childhood education, then let’s make more preschool classes happen at public schools.

That would take more teachers, though, and at the rate Abercrombie is disenchanting teachers, that may be laughable.