JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A St. Joseph lawmaker is trying to transfer the concept of awarding gold stars to children for good work to day care centers in Missouri.

These stars would mean more than shiny yellow foil, however.

State Sen. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, on Tuesday proposed a statewide quality rating system that could influence who puts their children in the early childhood centers and how much assistance those operations receive from the state.

His pitch for the program comes during a year when lawmakers are scouring the state budget for cuts.

"We spend very little to make sure children enter school ready to learn," Mr. Shields said during a committee hearing Tuesday.

He said the state would end up spending less on special education and remediation services if it invested earlier in children's lives when brain development occurs.

The system would cost $809,000 to run in its first fiscal year, but beginning in 2012 would cost $5 million annually, he said. He compared the latter number to the $3 billion the state already spends for the entire K-12 education system.

"Five million dollars doesn't seem like that much," he said.

This is the third year Mr. Shields has carried the bill, arguing the system would bring accountability to providers and improve children's chances for success later in school and life. The measure passed in the Senate in 2008, but never came up for a vote in the House of Representatives.

While no one testified against the rating system Tuesday, prior opponents from the day care industry criticized the program for putting a financial burden on smaller centers that don't have the resources to achieve a five-star rating. Some senators also raised concerns over the government meddling with the free market.

Mr. Shields' SB 4 would make the voluntary rating system available to all Missouri centers, with one star starting at the basic licensing level up to five stars, which would require accreditation among other targets. Centers exempt from the licensing requirements, such as church day care programs, wouldn't be rated if they hadn't voluntarily sought licensure.

Also, Mr. Shields intends to tie funding for the initiative with the rating system, meaning that centers with fewer stars potentially could receive less money than those with more stars. His proposal, however, requires approval from the Legislature on that component of the bill at a later date.

Committee member Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-St. Louis County, questioned the program's possible impact on faith-based centers and said she believed the program would raise the overall cost of early childhood education in the state.

While the program has yet to launch statewide, the program is "in full swing" in St. Joseph, said Bobbie Cronk, director of children's initiatives at the United Way of Greater St. Joseph.

Twenty-three early childhood centers are participating in a quality rating system pilot that started in St. Joseph three years ago through the United Way. The program has limited capacity because of funding. Some centers wishing to participate, such as KinderCare, have been turned away. The program costs roughly $55,000 annually and is funded through local endowments and private donations. In the past year, Ms. Cronk said La Petite Academy and One Step Ahead have achieved national accreditation as a result of the program.

The committee must vote up the bill before all senators can consider it.

Alyson E. Raletz can be reached at alysonraletz@npgco.com.