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.
