Sunday, May 2, 2010

Bill to move Kindergarten start date moves forward

A bill (AB 1967) by Assemblyman Tony Mendoza has moved forward this past week. This bill will move the "must be 5 by..." date to September 1st, from the current December 2nd. This bill would take effect for the 2012-2013 school year and is said to possibly impact over 100,000 students.

This bill proposes that those students with birthdays between September 1st - December 2nd, be enrolled in school district sponsored pre-school programs.

It is estimated this change would save the state over 700 million dollars a year due to reduced student enrollment. Half of that would go into supporting the district maintained pre-school programs, and half would go back into the troubled education budget (though don't you start to get the feeling the legislatures will just find another way to take it away from the schools?)

There is a similar bill, SB 1381, written by Senator Joe Simitian, which is essentially the same but phases in the change one month at a time over a period of 3 years.

29 comments:

  1. I am not a mathematician, but wouldn't it just save money the first year of implementation?

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  2. The bill proposes that those students with birthdays between September 1st - December 2nd, be enrolled in school district sponsored pre-school programs.

    May I inquire as to where will MDUSD get the funding to provide pre-school. Our current preschools are full.

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  3. Let's add to this ALL children must be fluent in speaking english!!!!!!!!

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  4. sherry it does say half the 700 million would go to the districts. not sure how much that equates to, or if adequate, i'm just saying.

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  5. Half of the saving would go to the districts. When I have more preschoolers than I receive $ from the state where do I make up the difference.

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  6. Why would these kids have to be funded for pre-school? Because it will be a "hardship" for parents to keep their kids in preschool another year? Please... get a grip.

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  7. This is just a shell game to kick the can down the road for another year or so.

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  8. Sherry -
    You say our preschools are full...What preschools does the district have that are not special education based or are those the ones you are referring to?

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  9. To be honest when you place a 4 year old child in the class room it is very hard for them, the older children, and the teachers that already have so much going on with little to NO help. Most states do not allow children in if they are not 5 by Sep 1. You can always tell the younger children because of their maturity. I understand the feelings but it has been a proven fact the younger ones do tend to have the most struggles in education. A head start program would be good for children between the ages of 3-5 that do struggle there are states that provide these too.

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  10. Our adult education program has preschool.

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  11. I agree 11:00 but have heard that many Head Starts may be closed due to budget cuts, and Adult Education has been hit pretty hard with cuts from what I remember so doubt they could pick up any slack. I totally agree with raising the K age, but it's not going to help much if the kids sit home and do nothing but watch Spongebob...

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  12. The adult education preschool in Concord is not free-parents pay a monthly fee to attend. In addition, this is a co-op and parent involvement is required.

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  13. Yah unfortunately i don't know what Sherry is talking about. The preschool at adult ed is a paid program like any other out in the community and is a parent co-op like the other person said. Other than special ed needs, I've never heard the district offers any preschool. And since we're just talking about the kids during those 3 months, I can't imagine a whole preschool would be needed. That's just ridiculous. Keep them in community pre-schools . Maybe this is one of the reasons California lags so far behind other states.. we are one of the only that lets kids start at 4! Keep them back, let the parents do whatever they do, and save the state money, save these kids, boost the bar to a higher level.

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  14. Sorry I was not more clear. The adult ed pre-school is funded by fees and grants. It is the only pre-school offered that is not part of special education.

    What I'm trying to figure out is if the school district will only get half the savings for preschool, where does MDUSD get the money. I believe it would need to gome out of the general fund.

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  15. i tnink this is a terrible idea. my son is due to go to kindergarten in 2012-2013 school year. he won't turn 5 until october 1 so he misses out by a month. he is already so advanced for his age, it is a real shame that he'll have to wait to begin school. i am his preschool teacher at home because i don't qualify for free preschool programs and it is much too expensive to pay for it. i feel this will only hurt kids like him. if other children can't handle it at that age then maybe their parents should hold them back.

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  16. 4:21 While I am sure your little one is advanced there is way more to school readiness than that. Unfortunately it isn't possible for public schools to weed out those who are developmentally ready for school from those who aren't so a hard and fast age requirement is the only way. Unfortunately many parents who's children aren't ready put their kids in K anyway since it is "free babysitting" and just figure they can repeat the year if they have to.

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  17. They should make the date August 15th, so that the kid is 5 the day they walk in the door for kindergarten. The younger ones hold the older ones back because they have to be babysat. They just aren't ready at 4, I don't care how "advanced" your kid is, if he's a genius then just take him to Stanford and skip elementary school, eh? My kid missed out because the younger kids were immature and needed too much attention.

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  18. Anon 4:21

    My youngest is a July baby and he will be turning 17 this year. He also was advanced, so we put him in Kindergarten, he had just turned 5. We had him evaluated by his pre-school and we worked with him at home. He was reading, writing and doing basic math before starting Kindergarten. Now that he is a Jr. in High School, I wish I had held him back. Most of his friends are a full year older than him. He is just starting to grow and loves sports. But he has not had his growth spurt or gained weight yet, so this does hurt him. He will be fine but in looking back, it would have been to his advantage to be older, rather than one of the youngest in his class.

    You can challenge your son at home and look into a co-op pre school for socialization. There are also city programs which are inexpensive. Socialization is so important, not just the basics. Boys also mature slower, so being older is such an advantage. I think the children today are pushed so hard academically. I have friends who held both of their boys back and it has worked to their advantage, the oldest is graduating and just turned 19. Both have done really well academically and socially.

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  19. I also have a July "baby" - now in high school (freshmen) and a boy. Not that all sizes fit all, but I will bet that looking back at good parenting decisions, it will be the one that we gave him that extra year that will have shaped his future. I'm serious in this. He's now exactly where he should be , yes he's always been more advanced academically , but it is soooo much more than that. And every child/person is different and we know our kids best. When in doubt, just wait. If you're even wondering it means your inner voice is telling you something. I've not heard of too many (if any) that have regretted the decison to wait a year, but I've heard often, the opposite - the regret they didn't wait...

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  20. No matter when the cut off date is, there will always be the "youngest" kid in a classroom. It matters not if that kid is 4 yrs, 9 mos, or 5 yrs old on the first day. If the issue is that of age, then perhaps the curriculum that has been pushed down over the years is the true problem. Kindergarten was originally instituted to provide young children a transition to school.
    Kindergarten should be ready for children, not the other way around. We are forcing young children to "learn" concepts that their brains are not yet ready for. The two hemispheres of the brain do not even fully connect until around age 8, yet we are expecting these little ones to perform at levels beyond their capabilities.
    Just my 2 cents.

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  21. I agree w/5/8 9:10 PM

    I sent my son (10/26) to school 4 going on 5 because the director of his preschool told me he was ready. At 3rd grade his organizational & social skills didn't keep up w/the rest of the class...so by 5th grade he was struggling.

    We tried having him held back in 5th grade so it wouldn't be 'as noticed' but the principal told me 'he meets the standards'. :( So now it is a continual struggle to keep his grades up because he's one of the 'younger' ones as a Freshman.

    I now tell EVERYONE I know...especially parents of boys, if you're remotely thinking about waiting for whatever reason...DO it!

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  22. I feel that using the state budget as justification is somewhat disingenuous. As some earlier comments pointed out, the purported savings is just a shell game, since the children who didn't enroll this year would have to be educated next year.

    With respect to readiness, each child is different. If a parent feels that the child is not ready, it is a simple matter to wait for a year. However, there are many children who are ready to learn. Holding them back deprives them of the progress that they could have made at an earlier age.

    As with the elimination of gifted programs, it is once again the advanced students who suffer in the public education system. As a society, we need to bring these kids to their full potential if we are to survive in the increasingly competitive global economy.

    Has anyone started a petition to oppose these bills? If so, links would be much appreciated.

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  23. I agree with 7:02am. My son has an early September birthday, but he was my second child. He had the benefit of being with me while working in his older sibling's classroom and was very comfortable starting school.

    His preschool told me to hold him back, simply because of his physical size. We knew he would always be small, so this didn't sway us.

    Eleven years later, despite my son's size and the fact that he is on the young side, he is in high school and is in the top 5% of his class. There are kids in his class who were held back in kindergarten and are struggling. There is no magic date.

    The whole keeping your child back started around the time my oldest was entering kindergarten. Many reasons for keeping a kid back was so that they would have a physical size advantage for sports.

    One of the things that I have seen is that some 19 year old seniors in high school are already men physically and emotionally, and are ready to get out of school.

    I am really glad that we sent my son because we knew that we would be there to support him through those early years. For us it has paid off. I know other families who feel the same way.

    I think that if the state changes the date for kindergarten enrollment, the least they can do is to provide a waiver for families who believe their child is ready and can prove it through a readiness test or other evaluation.

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  24. Having a son who's birthdate is late October...I wish this was in effect when he was entering kindergarten! We wouldn't be struggling SO much now!! He's too young to be a now entering 10th grader. His grades prove it...because of his age the lack of organizational skills is being a huge detriment to his ability to keep up, even though academically he can do the work!! Tried to have him held back in the 5th grade but the principal said 'he meets the standards'so he got pushed through :(

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  25. anon 12:33.
    Shows that we have to fight harder for our kids. If you really felt he should've repeated 5th you should've fought for that, even going to the district if you had to. I'm so sad to hear stuff like this. I also have a boy going into 10th grade, but we waited a year. I didn't need the state to tell me he wasn't ready and it was never about academics or "smarts." Seeing him now as an incoming 10th grader, I never doubt we did the right thing. And because so many others have done the same, he won't be the only 10th grader who will turn 16 during their sophomore year. It's a shame any school system pushes kids through, but we also have to learn to fight for our kids and go with our gut. We know what's right, much more than ANYONE else.

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  26. May 7, 2010 10:20 PM: I find your comment offensive and I disagree. My Sept. 15 child was head of the class in Kindergarten and THE most well-behaved.

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  27. Oh, for pity's sake, go be offended somewhere else. Yours is the perfect child, the exception to every rule. How lovely for you! Every other 4 year old entering that year still couldn't tie their own shoelaces or wipe their bums without assistance. Kindergarten teachers are not nannies. I resent having babies in my son's class who needed to be babysat and parents who said oh well, if it doesn't work then he can repeat kindergarten. Kindergarten is not free daycare, it's an education and should be treates as such.

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  28. 4:21
    Time won't take away from natural ability; he is a lucky guy! You truly ought to start looking at this as a gift. Just think, your "advanced" son will be that much more advanced when he starts the next year. Just think of all the increased experiences he will have to build on as he enters kindergarten the following year along with all the others that were lucky enough to wait!

    Thank you legislators...you finally are making decisions that benefit the little ones!

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  29. June 21, 2010 7:43 PM
    If your child's teacher told you that it wouldn't have been very professional to discuss other children's academics. As for behavior, "best-behaved" may be a bit of an opinion from a biased parent.

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