Politics & Current Events
Tianacheron
member
Ridin dirty
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Eliminating Kindergarten
Apparently this is being put on the table by our school district for budgetary reasons. Is anyone familiar with any area/school district that has actually gone through with this?
Ridin dirty
Re: Eliminating Kindergarten
pretty much, word on the street is that parents would have to find a "private solution" as 1st grade would have similar age restrictions as K does now, kids would need to be 6 on or before 8/1
Click me, click me!
Kindergarten here is expanding. Kids start JK the calendar year they turn 4 (so some kids start as young as 3y9m) and they are rolling in all-day, every-day programs province wide.
Eliminating kindergarten seems kind of crazy.
i wish i knew how they really plan for this to work. i had been living under the assumption that K was required, but evidently PA is one of 9 states where districts are not required to offer kindergarten
Parents would likely have to pay for private Kindergarten. I know some other countries do this.
that will just make the achievement gap exponentially larger. Those hurt are the poor. Those with money can just pay for another year at a good preschool.
HORRIBLE idea. HORRIBLE.
Even when it's required to be offered, I don't think kindergarten is compulsory.
Click me, click me!
Kindergarten is only mandated in 13 or 14 states. I was surprised to learn this as well.
ETA: that's probably mandated K attendance. We have some public pre-K options but because of so few spots available, I think they are thinking of turning some pre-K classes into K. So things can go forward and then backward again
Honestly, I think your school district is trying to force the state's hand by saying "Well, if you don't give us more money, our children will not be able to go to Kindergarten." Cue public outrage.
I doubt Kindergarten will go.
However, if K wasn't funded, I could see people enrolling their kids in private K programs. People who couldn't afford private K would likely get some kind of aid to be able to send their kids to a private program.
I would check out the private schools in your area just to be prepared and lobby your state officials. But I wouldn't worry about it too much.
my read shelf:
nope, not at all
http://www.homesurfer.com/schoolreports/view/schoolreports.cfm?LEAID=4210870
GREAT VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT has a spending per pupil rate of 16938. This compares with a rate of 11677 in Pennsylvania and a rate of 9698 nationally. GREAT VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT is in the 97.4% percentile rank in the state for Spending Per Pupil. It is in the 93% percentile rank nationally. Higher numbers are better. In this case, 97.4% of cities in Pennsylvania spend the same or less than GREAT VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT. Said another way, 2.6% of schools in Pennsylvania spend more than GREAT VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT.
eta: above stats
Yes, they can do this. It was explained to me that in PA K is "permissive" so the district doesn't have to offer it if they dont want to, although i'm not sure what the implications of federal funding would be.
Why are you spending so much on educating kids?
Do you have bloated administration? A lot of really expensive special ed kids? That number seems really high.
Above Us Only Sky
PA schooling drives me nuts. It's why PA parents send their kids to DE schools whenever possible.
No kindergarten is like my worst nightmare right now. Even worse than no free, all day Pre-K.
I know of places where it's the case. It seems it would create a terrible two-tier system, of poorer kids who spend another 12 months in the cheapest possible care (ie, low quality), and the more affluent kids who pay to go to K.
That's crazy!
PS I work in Great Valley, so hello neighbor!
No amount of education could convince Betty to be nice to possums