Protecting Kindergarten

With summer coming to an end and school starting across Pennsylvania, many children will be entering their first year in the classroom – kindergarten.  However, due to declining revenue and mandated costs, many school districts in Pennsylvania are faced with the decision of whether to continue to offer full-day kindergarten, half-day or eliminate the program altogether.  As a result, many parents and guardians are now scrambling to figure out how to accommodate these changes. 

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), each district in the Commonwealth has offered some sort of kindergarten program since 1992.  Nonetheless, Pennsylvania is one of just five states in the nation that does not mandate kindergarten as part of curriculum. 

Beginning with the 2004-05 school year, former Governor Ed Rendell launched Accountability Block Grants which was flexible money that could be used by school districts for such things as full-day kindergarten, reducing class sizes and providing tutors.  Over $270 million was annually received by schools starting in the 2008-09 school year from the block grant.  This extra aid boosted enrollment in kindergarten by more than 90 percent and significantly increased how many schools offered full-day programs.

More recently, tough economic times and tight state funding has become the new reality forcing schools to reexamine their curriculum and ways to cut costs.  The Accountability Block Grants were slashed to a $100 million allocation per year under the current Administration leaving schools with a lot less flexibility to work with.  Schools’ kindergarten programs have become the latest target and causality of these funding cuts leaving many school districts with no other choice than to reduce kindergarten to a half day during this upcoming academic year. 

During the 2012-13 school year, only about 375 school districts out of the 501 statewide offered some type of full-day kindergarten.  Even though, at this point, no school district has reported to PDE that they plan to eliminate kindergarten, we need to bring Pennsylvania’s education laws in line with other states and mandate all school districts in the Commonwealth offer a kindergarten curriculum.  

With that being said, in the coming weeks I will be introducing legislation that would simply codify a kindergarten requirement in the Public School Code.  It is important to note that the bill does not address the issue of full-day or half-day programs. That decision would still be left to individual districts.

Time and time again research has shown the importance of early education in our students’ academic achievement.  Furthermore, students who are, or live, in an area of poverty are often the ones who benefit the most from a kindergarten program, yet those cash-strapped districts are usually the ones who cut these non-mandated courses first.  Because each district already offers kindergarten programs, this legislation would not necessitate even the most financially strapped schools to come up with additional money.

As budgets continue to be tight, both for schools and families with young children, these individuals should not have to worry at the beginning of each academic year if districts will be offering a kindergarten class.  Our children’s ability to participate in the first step of our K-12 education system should not be used as a bargaining chip.  After all, we owe it to the future generation to provide them with not only a basic education where they will be taught essential lifelong lessons but also a quality atmosphere where young students can socially interact with peers their own age which fosters development.