By Emily HollingsheadI don’t understand some of these senators and representatives up on Capitol Hill. Last week we heard a stirring debate regarding school choice… proponents said that giving parents more choices to educate their children is a good thing. While I may disagree with the idea that “choice” will be available to all Utah families, I agree that giving parents more choices in educating their children can be positive, especially when those choices can be made available to them in a public school.
I was puzzled this morning when the funding for all day kindergarten was debated in the Senate Education committee. Opponents of all day kindergarten had several arguments against it… Senator Dayton said that it would give parents with special needs children “false hope” and that maybe “school” isn’t the best place for tiny children to be.
I’m scratching my head because, I don’t understand this argument, especially since Senator Dayton is an outspoken advocate of parental choice. Isn’t the whole idea to give parents more OPTIONS to educate their child? If a kid would benefit from all day kindergarten, shouldn’t a parent be given a choice to do that for their child? If a parent feels that all day kindergarten would help a little person with learning disabilities, wouldn’t it seem right that a parent have a choice to opt for it?
When my youngest son Sam started kindergarten, Iron County School District was offering all day kindergarten as pilot program. A very dedicated kindergarten teacher called and asked me if we would be interested in sending Sam to all day kindergarten, because she felt that he was a bright kid who would benefit from the extra stimulation and learning. Now, Sam is not someone who could be classified as a special needs child, nor does he have any learning disabilities. But Sam’s education experience from that point has been remarkable. He is an excellent student who does well in all subjects, who loves to read, who has a high retention level for the things he is learning, and he is a child who absolutely loves going to school. Would he have been any different without all day kindergarten? I don’t know, I have no way to judge that. If I were to ever have more children, I would hope that all day kindergarten would be an available choice, because I found it to be a very positive and worthwhile experience for Sam.
Senators Dayton, Bell and Stephenson voted NO on all day kindergarten funding. The bill passed out of committee, but it makes me wonder what will happen when this one hits the floor of the Senate chambers? Will the same advocates of parental choice in education jump to the support of this bill which allows for parental choice in kindergarten?
Thank you Senator Hillyard for bringing this bill to the table, and thank you Senator Jones, Senator Romero and Senator Peterson for voting in favor of it.
20 comments:
I'm not so sure schools should be in the business of providing kindergarten.
Isn't this a service that's better done by private concerns like daycare ?
"maybe “school” isn’t the best place for tiny children to be."
....only in Utah folks...only in Utah
Anon #1 - Huh??
I don't even know how to respond.
Anon 1 does have a point..kindergarten could be outsourced to the privaye sector, rather than have public schools deal with it.
Anon 1 and 2 seem to have an extremely simplistic understanding of what kindergarten is and is not. It is a grade of public education that all Utahns are entitled to receive. It is not day care; children are not given time-consuming activities in order to give parents time to work or do other activities.
Kindergarten teaches the absolute basics: letters, numbers, values, speech, music, arts, etc. As you may have heard during today's testimony during the committee hearing, evidence has conclusively shown that children who are exposed to educational opportunities earlier are better off later in life. Kindergarten currently provides that basic level of services that day care cannot provide without massive government support.
Kindergarten is the period when children are first brought into contact with formal educational concepts. It is not a period of playtime.
My wife Michelle worked for the Waterford School in Sandy, Utah. She was both an instructor and the director of their nursery. She now runs a nursery out of our home, two days a week.
She would explain that daycare is very different from nursery school and kindergarten. She isn't baby sitting, she is teaching.
My experience is much different from my wife's. I went to kindergarten which was my first introduction to organized learning and prepared me for the first grade.
After school, I went to a daycare provider named Doris.
Hope that helps.
reguardless of what kindergarten does or doesn't do...isn't this something the private sector could do better ; or couldn't we give vouchers to parents in lieu of having this funded thru our public education system?
What I'm growing tired of is the this "OR" that argument that we've reduced this to.
My children both attended kindergarten and it was a positive and good experience for both of them, and I never expected kindergarten to be a "day care" so that I could have time to myself. I also take offense at the notion that by sending my son to all day kindergarten I am somehow sending him to daycare and ignoring my responsibility as a parent.
Once again, this is about *CHOICE* and what a parent wants to do or his or her kids.
And it does not matter if the private sector can or cannot do ... if I CHOOSE to send my kids to public school, it is important that I have CHOICES regarding how they are educated.
This is not an argument about what the private sector can or can't do. This is what we *should* do for children.
"reguardless of what kindergarten does or doesn't do...isn't this something the private sector could do better ; or couldn't we give vouchers to parents in lieu of having this funded thru our public education system?"
My daughter Abby started her public education experience last fall. Michelle and I could not imagine a better experience, or that the private sector could provide a better experience.
We hold her teacher in high regard.
We are both involved with her class.
Why would I want to change what is already working perfectly for our family, and why would I want to spend more money when our experience has been above my greatest expectations?
My wife is from Alberta. They have top-notch schools. The test scores of Alberta high school students are some of the highiest in the world. On international tests in math, sceince, social science, etc., they score at the top along with Singapore, Hong Kong, and Finland.
And guess what? You don't have to send your kid to Kindergarten if you don't want to. That's right folks. Not only do the not have full-day Kindergarten, for some families there is simply NO Kindergarten at all.
Not only that, but in my wife's town where there are three high schools (two public, one Catholic), you can actually choose to have your taxes go to the Catholic school rather than the public schools.
Just some food for thought.
WOW...I like the Alberta system of directing tax dollars to private schools.
It really empowers parents in having a say and control in their child's education - hopefully the new voucher law will create that atmosphere.
A Visit to a Religious Elementary School
Private and religious schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program have almost complete autonomy when it comes to how they spend their money, what they teach their students, and how well they measure what those students learn. What's more, they are under almost no obligation to share any of that information with the public.
As Rethinking Schools recently discovered, even getting in the door to informally observe and report on a typical school day in a religious school participating in the voucher program can be close to impossible.
In a series of calls to 11 such schools, a reporter for Rethinking Schools was given any number of reasons why such a visit was out of the question. Several principals said they and their teachers were simply too busy to accommodate a reporter. Others said a visit would be too disruptive. Still others - including three Catholic school principals - said they could not agree to such a request without approval from higher-level church officials. One school never returned phone calls from a reporter.
In the end, Parklawn Christian School, 3725 N. Sherman Blvd., was the only one of the 11 schools that agreed to a reporter's request for a tour. Rev. Larry Orr, Parklawn principal, said the decision was made against the advice of Daniel McKinley, executive director of Partners Advancing Values in Education, a private scholarship program for voucher students. "But we thought if you visited, your story might show people what a good job we're doing," Orr said. "We don't have anything to hide."
There are 91 schools in the Milwau-kee voucher program, serving 8,100 students. While it is impossible to draw any conclusions from one visit to one school, what follows is a snapshot of school life at one religious school receiving public vouchers in Milwaukee.
Like many schools, both public and private, Milwaukee's Parklawn Christ-ian School tries to ensure that its students will receive an excellent education. Its instructional program features "active learning" and stresses the importance of higher-level thinking skills; its curriculum is designed to be developmentally appropriate, emphasizes reading, and is geared to students' individual interests. Its classes are small - a teacher and teaching assistant for every 18 pupils.
As a religious school, Parklawn also prides itself on offering its students an education steeped in the teachings of Scripture. "We believe in integrating faith in Jesus Christ with the content and process of all learning," states its philosophy of education. Thanks to its participation in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Parklawn is in the position of being able to fulfill both its educational and religious missions with the help of public tax dollars.
Parklawn officials say that participating in the voucher program hasn't changed the way they do business. "We're not going to change what we do for the sake of the choice program," said Rev. Orr. "We're participating because it's a way of making our program available to parents who couldn't afford it otherwise." Annual tuition at the school is $3,750.
The school is run by Parklawn Assembly of God Church, also at 3725 N. Sherman Blvd. Like many voucher schools, it concentrates on young children, serving 75 children in four-year-old kindergarten through third grade, and 22 children in a pre-school program for two- and three-year olds. A fourth-grade class will be added next year. Now in its fourth year of operation, the school offers a year-round academic program as well as before- and after-school day-care programs particularly attractive to working parents.
The school is housed in a wing of the church. The classrooms are bright and cheerful, and full of books and other learning materials. Walls are lined with learning "centers" at which children can explore a variety of topics. Most classrooms include several computers; kindergarten and preschool classrooms are loaded with toys. Children also have access to a gymnasium. Their tuition covers the cost of a hot lunch program.
Bernice Towns, vice principal at Parklawn School and children's minister at Parklawn Church, said she was particularly pleased with the school's success in reading. While Parklawn, like many schools, does not formally test young students, Towns said half of the children enrolled in the school's four-year-old kindergarten program last year began five-year-old kindergarten this fall already reading. By November, they were reading at the first-grade level.
Every bit as important as its reading program, however, is Parklawn's religious mission, summarized by the school motto, "Passing on God's Promises to the Next Generation." Students and staff participate in daily Bible study classes and a weekly chapel service, and religion permeates all facets of the school day. In a second-grade classroom, daily "choice time" is more than an opportunity for children to explore an interest in science or pursue a passion for art. "It also allows children to use the unique gifts God has given them, so they can fulfill God's purpose for them in life," Towns explains. "Our faith is woven into everything we do. If a child falls down on the playground, we pray for him."
Orr and Towns agreed that Parklawn's Bible-based learning environment appears to be incompatible with a state regulation requiring religious schools in the voucher program to allow students to "opt out" of religious activity during the school day. But they said the issue had not yet come up.
Nor has the school been forced to deal with other curriculum, personnel or labor issues that could pose church/state conflicts. For example, because the oldest pupils in the school, to date, have been third graders, school officials have not yet had to confront questions around the teaching of evolution. A requirement that all faculty and staff be not only licensed by the State of Wisconsin, but also practicing Christians who meet "stringent spiritual qualifications," has never been challenged. In fact, Orr said Parklawn had received no directives regarding hiring in connection with its participation in the voucher program.
Orr said the only change he had noticed in the day-to-day operation of Parklawn, as a voucher school, was "a lot more paperwork." Should substantive conflicts arise, he said it was likely Parklawn would drop out of the program. "We're not doing this for the money, to build a kingdom here," he said. "If they asked us to not be who we are, we couldn't participate. We're not going to change for the choice program."
Wow, once again it's spiraled to a conversation about what a "True" choice in education is.
I get the feeling that those on the voucher side of the argument believe there is no such thing as a choice unless it involves a private school.
geez,
what is with this b.s about private industry running everything?
We are not a socialist country and we are not heading into a socialist regime!
I am more afraid of our society heading in the other direction.
Private schools have their place, but they should never be funded by taxpayers if public schools exist. It's never been about "choice" for voucher proponents. Also, Kindergarten in public schools helps everyone. A myopic view of education only would only help your immediate family, not the community. It is like going to church; we go to help ourselves become better, but we also help those around us to become better persons.
In education, we finish school to improve ourselves, but we also help the community by helping others improve themselves. And that is not Socialism.
Except, I'm still hearing those pesky, black UN helicopters flying around. And if they land on my property, they will have to pry my pencil out of my cold, dead hand!
Three Reasons Why Vouchers Are Good
Reason 1. Children benefit from school choice. Ten large scientific studies of voucher programs prove: Academic achievement improves for most students who use vouchers to enroll in private schools – no students suffer academic losses; Low-performing and economically-disadvantaged students achieved most academic gains from vouchers; Students with vouchers are closing the achievement gap within 3 years; Students who use vouchers have more culturally diverse classmates, exhibit better citizenship skills, are more likely to graduate, and more likely to attend college; and Students in public schools that compete with private schools for students achieve levels of performance almost 30 percent higher than the performance of public school students livingin areas without school choice.
Reason 2. Vouchers are the most efficient way of funding public education.Vouchers control escalating public school costs: Without any increase in funding, public schools achieve higher student outcomes where public schools compete with private schools for students; Construction costs can be avoided by awarding vouchers to offset enrollment growth; When disadvantaged students used vouchers, public schools can invest more funds into regular classroom instruction; and Because private schools educate all students, including disadvantaged students, at almost one-third less the cost of public schools, vouchers will reduce state education costs. Reason 3. Vouchers are the best way to improve public education. Public education can be provided by government-operated or private schools; Parents choose the school that best meets their child’s educational needs; Competition for student enrollment is the strongest form of educational accountability and will improve government-operated, as well as private, schools; and How well children are educated counts more than where children are educated.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 2
Three Myths About Vouchers Myth 1. Charter schools prove that school choice doesn’t work. No comparison can be drawn between vouchers and charter schools – charters represent another form of public schools whereas vouchers are associated with private schools; When it comes to curriculum and instruction, there is very little difference between most charter schools and traditional public schools whereas private schools are very different fromboth charter and traditional public schools; Charter schools are heavily regulated by the state – more heavily regulated than traditional public schools in Texas – whereas private schools are not subject to state regulation; and Student achievement in charter schools is generally lower than student achievement in traditional public schools whereas students in private schools generally outperform their peers in both traditional public and charter schools. Myth 2. Vouchers take away funding from public schools.Large voucher programs in two cities demonstrate that public schools coexist and thrive in conjunction with school choice. The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, enacted in 1990, is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-supported voucher program for low-income students. In the decade of choice, real per pupil spending in public schools increased 24 percent; and The Horizon Program in Edgewood School District of San Antonio was created in the 1989-99 school year. Per pupil spending increased from $6,059 in the 1997-98 school year to $7,845 in the 2003-04 school year, despite a 7 percent decrease in enrollment. During this same period of time, average teacher salary rose from $32,753 to $40,992. Myth 3. Vouchers will destroy public education. Children in 49 states now use privately-funded voucher programs to attend private schools. Public education and government-operated schools are still financially viable in each of these states; The State of Maine has issued vouchers for public school students to “tuition-out” to private schools since 1873. The state pays tuition for over one-third of the students enrolled in Maine’s private schools today. Funding, as well as enrollment, in Maine’s public schools continues to rise; and The first system of Texas public schools, created by the 1876 Constitution, allowed parents to redeem government education funds at any school operated by a municipal government or a private school. Public education originally operated as a hybrid of government-operated and private schools – there is no evidence that this hybrid harmed government-operated schools. RECOMMENDATION: Over four million students attend Texas public schools. The student population is rapidly growing and increasingly diverse: over 50 percent of the student population comes from economically-disadvantaged homes, over 14 percent are enrolled in Bilingual Education, and 12 percent are enrolled in Special Education Services. Public schools are overwhelmed, and many economically-disadvantaged students are poorly served, according to numerous measures (state assessments, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and tests of post-secondary readiness). Introducing vouchers as a supplement to government-operated schools would allow public education to meet the needs of all Texas children. Enact a voucher program now to provide relief to children who are poorly served by Texas public schools.
Emily,
Sadly, you would have not fit in up at the Legislature--unfortunately. You see, YOU are consistent in your belief system and would vote according to that belief system EVERY SINGLE TIME. (That and the fact that you are honest and have integrity).
I have been an observer and/or active participant at the Legislature for 5 years now and the ideological inconsistencies increase tenfold every year within the right wing.
I love it when they say we can't have a mandatory seatbelt law because it infringes on people's personal freedoms but they are more than happy to infringe on what goes on in their bedrooms. Funny, last time I checked, the bedroom was much more personal than one's car.
But that's just me. I guess I think too rationally.
Anon:
You have to admit that vouchers have their problems as well. You mention Milwaukee. If their program is so successful, why doesn't the entire state of Wisconsin go with the voucher program?
Those school districts outside of Milwaukee have had to raise property taxes to make up the difference of lost funding. In other words, vouchers do in fact take away money from public schools.
If you reply to this, can you use your real name? I'm wondering why you have to hide behind the name "anonymous".
Anonymous -
I am not arguing vouchers. I am arguing the inconsistent argument. If you think school choice is a good thing, then why isn't it good "across the board" and why *can't* we give choices to parents who have kids in the public schools? Your diatriabe about how vouchers are good does not answer the question.
I'll respond as a first grade teacher actually. I haven't taught kindergarten, but I get the kindergarten kids.
1)I'm not in favor of having all-day kindergarten everywhere. It should be an option in SOME places, but I don't think it should be mandatory.
2)Kindergarten is NOT mandatory in Utah. I know of many people who haven't sent their child to kindergarten. I feel that should be up to a parent.
3)Some it seems have no idea what kindergarten is now. It's not the play and nap time it used to be. Since I started teaching first grade several years ago, it has changed a LOT and has become much more academic. Kids are expected to be reading words and know their sounds (at least in my area) by the time they come out of kindergarten.
4)I have seen many more kindergarteners come to first grade over the years with a pretty good foundation. Of course, there are some who don't know their letter sounds, but the great majority are reading and even writing a little by the time they come to me. That makes it a lot easier to work with them and expand into harder concepts. My first graders, for example, can recognize proper nouns in a sentence and have a good background in basic grammar.
5)Good kindergarten readers often have involved parents who work with them as well.
6)We have a wonderful kindergarten team at my school and I am excited to see the kids next year.
7)Kindergarten classes CAN have different makeups from year to year.
8)Soms see this as a step to requiring mandatory preschool. Again I would fight against that because it wouldn't be necessary. Imagine taking a break to have the diapers changed.
9)I have wonderful students and parents to work with and part of that has been because of their kindergarten experience. :)
Note that kindergarten enrollments are not counted in determining FTE's for a school.
Post a Comment