Why Are Republicans Against Education?

In the State of the Union, President Obama proposed a plan to send every four-year-old to preschool.  Now Republicans are attacking him for it.  More making fun of him than attacking.  I don't understand what they have against education.

Charles Krauthammer on Fox News this week had this to say:

From losers, the four-year-olds of America. Here they are jumping around, laughing, screaming, having a great time and Obama wants them all to go to school. Every single one, right away. And why? To prepare them for the high-tech economy of the future. Can’t wait until the age of five – no siree.

We can’t let the Chinese four-year-olds be working on solar panels and cars that run on algae while our four-year-olds are lollying around doing nothing. We’re number one, we got to stay that way. The four-year-olds of America better shape up!

Have a good day kids.

But we're not number one, nor even close to it.  

The three-yearly OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, which compares the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world, ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics.

"This is an absolute wake-up call for America," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told The Associated Press.  

Education is so important and the Republicans laugh it off.  It's no wonder our education rankings with the rest o the world continue to fall.  They just don't care.  This same type of proposal for universal preschool was proposed in 1971 by Senator Mondale.  He wanted everyone to have the ability to send their child to preschool. His bill passed the Senate only to be vetoed by President Nixon. He called it “communal approaches to child rearing.”

Better education in this country should be a priority for both parties.  It is the one issue that directly impacts all the rest.  It is the best chance a person has to move up in the world.  There are countless examples of people growing up in poverty and breaking out.  These stories almost always involve their educational achievements.  

Are they afraid they would lose voters if people were better educated?  If not that, why are they against education?