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RALEIGH – Educators and legislative leaders are speaking out against a proposed budget that would jeopardize funding for some of the smallest children across the state.

The Smart Start program was created in 1993 to help students like 5-year-old Joseph Hopkins prepare to enter kindergarten.

“Uno that means one,” he said.

His numbers aren't the only thing Hopkins has learned in Spanish. He's one of thousands of North Carolina children who benefit from the Smart Start program.

“That piece between zero and five studies have shown, parents have shown, me working in early childcare for as long as I have is just insurmountable what it does for children,” Nedra Wicker, who is a parent, said.

At just 15 months, Wicker's daughter, Macy can speak, likes to read and has made friends. When there's talk about cutting $38 million in the program, educators said they get nervous.

“We don't need to go backwards. We don't need to take our children backwards,” Kimberly Shaw, the Safe Place president, said.

The Senate and House released a plan to cut funding by 20 percent. Educators said this will dismantle the program all together. Legislators from both sides of the party lines are fighting on where cuts need to be made.

“It is easy to lose sight of the fact of the tremendous damage being done in the House and Senate's budget to Smart Start,” Rep. Joe Hackney, the Democratic House Minority Leader, said.

Hackney said with the Senate's proposed budget, 58 percent of the partnerships would have less than $66,000 a year to run their business and 78 percent would have less than a $100,000, which means many will shut their doors.

Senate leaders disagree.

“We're modifying the structure of Smart Start to remove administrative expenses so that there's more dollars going to funding slots for kids,” Sen. Phil Berger, the President Pro Tem, said.

These are decisions that some legislators hope won't cost children their education.

The Senate will vote on the budget proposal next week. They hope to have a final budget approved by the governor and in place by June 30.