Governor Sam Brownback spoke Tuesday at Vermillion Elementary School about his all-day kindergarden initiative. Brownback toured Vermillion’s kindergarten classrooms and Early Childhood Center before speaking to a group of students and district officials.

The governor, along with the state board of education, is asking the legislature to fund all-day kindergarden for Kansas children. It currently only funds half-day kindergarden.

Brownback said improved economic policies in Kansas put the state in a position to pay for it.

“We’re in a position to invest. I think we ought to invest in early kids,” he said. The program would cost the state $80 million over five years: Brownback’s plan is to increase kindergarden funding by $16 million each year until all-day kindergarden is fully funded.

Many school districts in the state already provide all-day kindergarden without state funding. Wichita Public Schools provides all-day kindergarden out of its own existing budget. Maize, however, charges around $2,000, superintendent Doug Powers said.

Two Kansas governors before Brownback have pushed for all-day kindergarden but their proposals did not pass. Brownback said he understands it is a tough commitment to make but called it a “key thing for us and our future.”