Despite support from the state school board and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., a bill to expand such programs was stalled in committee and absent from a list of funding priorities. But the Senate Education Committee finally gave it a hearing and passed it to the Senate floor on a 4-3 vote.

All-day kindergarten programs have been proven to help disadvantaged students catch up to their peers by first grade, reducing the need for costly tutoring and remediation later on. Several districts offer such programs using state pilot program money or federal Title I funds for disadvantaged students.

SB49 would spend $7.5 million to expand the option to all Utah Title I schools. It was assigned to the Senate Education Committee on the Legislature's first day but didn't receive a hearing until Tuesday.

Chairwoman Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, said her committee has been dealing with other important business but makes no secret that she opposes such programs.

"I have concerns about the cultural mind-set we're creating that the best place for children is in school," she said. "The obvious next thing is to put our 4-year-olds in half-day [programs] and just keep moving down."

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, said he'll add "intent language" to address fears the legislation might pave the way for future mandatory programs. He also plans to amend the bill to include a four-year review provision before it reaches the Senate floor.

But such gestures didn't appease Gayle Ruzicka, one of two Utah Eagle Forum representatives who spoke against the bill.

"There are those parents who will be afraid not to use it because they'll panic and think the neighbor children will be learning more than their children," she said. "Kindergarten is optional, but how many think it's optional?"

Of the 10 people who spoke to the bill, eight supported it. They included parents, teachers, school board members and community leaders. They hailed the impact such early-intervention programs can have for students whose parents either don't speak English or haven't taken the time to make sure kids know their letters, numbers, shapes and colors before they enter school.

"Children who start behind cost the state educational system dollars in remediation far beyond the cost of getting it right the first time," said Holly Langton of the Utah PTA.

The bill survived its first committee vote and a proposed amendment to replace it with a pilot project that would compare the benefits of the program with a preschool assistance project and parallel programs using learning software.

Yet the bill still faces funding challenges: The Joint Education Appropriations Committee didn't request funding for the program.

"We've done our priority list and it isn't one of the things that came up," said Rep. Brad Last, R-St. George, the committee's co-chairman. "We left that to executive appropriations and [GOP] leadership to evaluate."

So it remains to be seen whether the bill's champions will fight for funding. Hillyard, the bill's sponsor, is co-chairman of the Executive Appropriations Committee. And Huntsman's office insists the governor hasn't forgotten the issue.

"It's definitely a priority," said Christine Kearl, Huntsman's deputy for education. "There have been some unexpected things that came up [during the session] that caused delay or distraction, but we'll stay focused on extended-day kindergarten."

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* GLEN WARCHOL contributed to this story.