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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2011 > January > 20 > Entry
Editorial: All-day kindergarten still smart move
If Ohio scraps requiring all-day kindergarten, that decision needs to be seen for what it is.
Yes, it is retracting an unfunded mandate that was part of former Gov. Ted Strickland’s package of changes imposed on Ohio’s schools. But lifting the requirement also is a cutback.
Though a lot of districts were asking for more time before they started offering the classes, many others were on a path to finding a way to make the change.
Most of the school districts that won’t offer all-day kindergarten if the state relents will make that decision not because they think that’s the right thing; they just believe they can’t afford it.
And they’re choosing not to make it priority.
Some other districts will offer a full-day program anyway, because they have made a different choice. They believe (and they are right) that there’s indisputable value in having more time with children before they get to first grade. They believe that that extra attention pays dividends not just when students are in first grade, but for their entire school career.
Tapping kids’ imaginations when they’re like sponges; imprinting things on minds when they’re the most formative; making sure that kids start first grade ready to read and to write sets the stage for everything else to come.
Are there some districts where all-day kindergarten is less essential? Absolutely.
Some communities are made up mostly of families that can give their children advantages that poor and many not-so-poor families can’t (or simply don’t) provide. But ask superintendents and teachers even in well-to-do school districts if they have children who would benefit from extra attention in kindergarten and the answer will be unequivocally “yes.”
When the governor and lawmakers imposed the kindergarten mandate, they knew it would be controversial. It would require hiring more kindergarten teachers, it would mean finding more classroom space, it would cost money. It would require trade-offs.
But as mandates go — as state standards go — this call was as smart as they get. Insisting that local school districts have to find a way to make it more likely that all their students will walk into the first grade ready to learn is getting the foundation right.
Remember when there was the push to make sure that third-graders really could read or they wouldn’t be promoted? That forced special focus on kids who were behind. If that opportunity was missed and heroic intervention didn’t happen, children were all but academically doomed.
All-day kindergarten is a similar sort of policy choice. It’s about putting the fundamentals in place.
To make this debate about eliminating unfunded mandates or rejecting a previous administration’s goal is turning an educational imperative into an ideological fight. It’s putting politics above the science of learning. It’s refusing to insist on getting the most bang for the buck.
The school districts that keep or go for all-day kindergarten in spite of the state backing down are putting their students first. They deserve to be applauded for knowing what matters.
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