Rebecca Hoynes, 4, has Down syndrome. She looks different from other children her age. She learns differently. She has documents from the government that say she is entitled to a different education.

But when she is at preschool, her differences fade. Some of her classmates do not look like her, but they learn from the same teachers. They sit in the same classrooms. They play with the same toys.

"The key thing comes when she interacts with other kids," says Harry Hoynes, Rebecca's father. "They learn patience, and that other kids their age are different, too. They come to these wonderful understandings at the age of 4 and 5. That's the benefit of Stock."

"Stock" is short for the Frederick Stock Elementary School, a public preschool in Chicago for children with, and without, disabilities. It is one of several blended programs in the city that could drastically change if state legislators cut funding for the state's prekindergarten program in 2009-10.

Two weeks ago, the Illinois General Assembly proposed a spending bill that would have cut existing grant funds to state education programs. Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed the proposal, calling it "the 50 percent budget."

This week, lawmakers return to chambers to try another round of cuts to reduce a $9 billion state deficit.

As their representatives slice the pie, Chicago educators are concerned that they will again propose slashing funds for Preschool for All, the state program that pays for early learning for children 3 to 5 years old.

"Most of us who work in early childhood education, and all of the human services, are deeply distressed," says Barbara Bowman, director of early childhood education at Chicago Public Schools. "People don't realize how much of a blow this is going to be."

Bowman says that if state officials cut funding for the preschool program, district schools such as Stock may have to close their doors to students without disabilities, forcing those with impediments to learn in isolation, away from typically developing peers.

If the cuts are deep enough, she says, the legislature could force district administrators to cut services for disabled preschool students as well. In that scenario, officials would check off criteria to determine which students are eligible to receive specialized education.

Homeless and foster children would be first in line, Bowman says. Other factors such as household income, illness in the family and second languages would also come into play.

"The more criteria they fit," she says, "the more likely they are to be served."

Children with disabilities have a particular disadvantage during their preschool years. While federal law requires school districts to make services available to disabled students from kindergarten to 12th grade, districts are not required to provide similar services at the preschool level, Bowman says.

"You're only required to provide what's available," Bowman says of preschool children. "If there's no program in the public schools, you can't pay a private school to take the children. There's simply no recourse."

That troubles Richard Smith, principal of the Stock School. He says many of the 265 students enrolled at his school have individualized education plans, more commonly known as IEPs, that call for them to socialize with students without disabilities.

An IEP is a contract between a school district and a child's parent or guardian that outlines, among other things, the child's eligibility for specialized services.

Smith says that the prospect of closing Stock's doors to children without disabilities is a threat to all students. Last week, he gathered parents' signatures for a petition against the cuts sent to state representatives.

"Why should a child who needs special education be segregated?" Smith asks. "They need to be with their typically developing preschool peers to fulfill their greatest potential."

Cathy Lawson, principal at the Barbara Vick Early Childhood & Family Center, agrees that teaching students with disabilities side by side with their typically developing peers helps them with later education.

"When they join kindergarten," Lawson says, "they are able to stay in the mainstream for the majority of their educational years."

Vick is a blended public preschool in Chicago similar to the Stock School. According to district records, 43 percent of the 240 students at the school have special-education needs.

Lawson says that if Gov. Quinn would not have vetoed the General Assembly's initial spending bill, she would have had to lay off at least four teachers.

According to rules negotiated by the district and the Chicago Teachers Union, she says, she could have kept only the most senior teachers with certification to teach special education, a credential some of her teachers lack because they teach children without disabilities at the school.

As fall approaches, Lawson says, she also worries about the 253 students she has already accepted for the fall term.

"Is it going to be the end of July that I'm waiting to let parents know that there won't be service for their kids?" she asks. "They could get a letter from me saying, sorry, it didn't go our way."