Bill wants to fully pay for all-day kindergarten

A new law boosting funding for full-day kindergarten in New Hampshire is still taking effect, but some lawmakers are ready to go further.

The state currently pays half the standard $3,600 per-student amount for kindergartners, but that will increase to 80 percent next year under a law signed in July. Funding will rise in later years depending on how much money is generated by the newly legalized keno lottery, but Sen. Dan Feltes wants the state to offer full funding that isn’t tied to keno.

Feltes, a Democrat from Concord, is sponsoring a bill to provide the funding.

At a news conference Tuesday, he and other supporters said school boards shouldn’t have to base their budgets on unreliable lottery estimates and that kindergartners should be treated like all other students.