Voters have rejected a proposed property tax increase that would have provided millions of dollars toward widening the availability of early childhood education in the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.
Tuesday’s referendum lost 11,291 to 13,019, or 46 percent to 54 percent.
Supporters said their next step will be to find new ways to help 4-year-olds be better prepared for kindergarten.
“No one out there wants parents of 4-year-olds not to have options,” said Lisa Deaton of Columbus, director of We the People Indiana, a political action committee that opposed the measure. “We’re just not sure it’s a program the public should pay for.”
