Sixty years ago in May, President Lyndon Johnson stood before a crowd of graduates and parents at the University of Michigan’s commencement and outlined a vision for a Great Society. He mentioned many policies that would later become part of LBJ’s War on Poverty, but most importantly, he stressed that “our society will not be great until every young mind is set free to scan the farthest reaches of thought and imagination.”

Today, LBJ’s vision for a Great Society, built on the cornerstone of education, is realized through Head Start, one of this country’s most effective anti-poverty programs. Providing Pre-K to young children and whole family support services to those families at or below the Federal Poverty Line, Head Start attacks poverty at the roots – ensuring that young students and their families are equipped to enter kindergarten ready to learn. Head Start provides health screenings, nutrition services and parental support, removing barriers to learning that often stifle young minds.

But Head Start is more than just an anti-poverty program in Michigan. It also serves as a backbone for Michigan’s growing early childhood education system. Pre-K for All is the latest initiative joining the stellar line up of options that Michigan currently offers young children. It aims to build upon what already exists and works well in our state.

In Michigan, 8% of all 4 year olds are educated in Head Start classrooms. Most of these classrooms are operated by nonprofit, community-based organizations (CBOs), such as Community Action Agencies. These CBOs work in tandem with the traditional school system to offer parents flexibility and choice between different types of Pre-K providers.

The Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) is Michigan’s existing Pre-K program, educating tens of thousands of young children across the state. Governor Whitmer is seeking to aggressively expand GSRP to all of Michigan’s four-year-olds through her Pre-K for All initiative. That’s a good thing because, as we know in the early childhood education space, all children can benefit from Pre-K.

For years, Head Start programs have offered blended classrooms, where funding from Head Start and GSRP works together to improve the quality of service for children enrolled in the program. This blend is essential and benefits children and families. It also allows Head Start and GSRP to be mutually supportive, letting Michigan leverage the federal government’s investment into Head Start to serve more children across the state.

However, new proposals from the Michigan legislature threaten this partnership. The recently released Michigan House of Representatives School Aid Fund proposal calls for limiting Michigan’s ability to tap into CBOs, like Head Start programs, to expand GSRP. These changes call for drastically altering a Pre-K system in Michigan that is working for providers, parents and children. By limiting community-based nonprofits from expanding their Pre-K programs, these legislative proposals would limit parent options to choose a program that best fits their needs and is flexible around their schedule.

LBJ started the push for more and better Pre-K 60 years ago in Michigan. Today, Governor Whitmer and the Michigan legislature lead the nation in their vision for a diverse and well-funded Pre-K system for all children in Michigan, one that leverages the strengths of schools, nonprofits and Head Start programs to build a successful Pre-K for All program statewide. We should realize this vision and keep Michigan on course to realize a nationally leading Pre-K system.

The Biden-Harris Administration recently released a letter encouraging states pursuing Pre-K for All to implement a mixed delivery system that meets the needs of all students and parents. Michigan is building such a system, but these new legislative proposals would detour us off this path. If passed, these proposals would strike a blow to the foundation of Michigan’s existing and future Pre-K (for All) system.

Susan Harding, PhD, CCAP, NCRT, is OLHSA Chief Executive Officer and has 25 years of experience working in community action and nonprofit agencies, including directing Head Start and foster care. 

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Viewpoint: Universal Pre-K in Michigan works; proposals could upend that