Full-Day Kindergarten:

At The Crossroads

To the Editor:

Our community is at a crossroads. Do we approve the budget and thus institute public full-day kindergarten (FDK) for all children — never to return?

It’s not surprising that Newtown’s administration supports FDK-for-all. I’m sure they’ve been exposed to a steady drumbeat of advocacy since at least 2003, when the teachers’ union, the NEA, publicly committed to this goal: “Full-day kindergarten for all 5-year-old children should be mandated in every public school in this country.”

What’s perplexing is the Board of Education’s support, even though this information is at their disposal:

*FDK is not desirable for every young child.

*Studies indicate no lasting academic benefits and potential nonacademic harm of attending a full day at such a young age.

*Only three of the 20 similar school districts in our District Reference Group currently offer FDK-for-all.

*Newtown students enter kindergarten with a high level of academic skills (within the top third of our DRG, none of whose districts currently offers FDK-for-all). A specific example: 70 percent of Newtown’s current kindergartners entered with the skills necessary for numeracy, while only five percent demonstrated emergent skills. (Reference: “Kindergarten Entrance Inventory” within CEDaR.)

The superintendent of Regional District 10 recognizes that a slowdown in enrollment might allow them to consider FDK, but “the costs might later become unbearable if enrollment starts climbing again.” He said, “Once you’ve instituted it, it’s not the kind of thing you’d turn around and end.” (Hartford Courant, 2/27/12)

If Newtown institutes FDK-for-all, we’ll have a block of at least 8½ additional teachers and seven educational assistants that are virtually untouchable. Then:

*If/when costs rise, and it’s a choice between FDK-for-all and, say, a beloved high school music teacher with critical skills, which gets the boot?

*If our enrollment grows again, will we go back to half-day kindergarten or build a new school?

*What options will there be for parents who know that FDK is wrong for their children?

*Wouldn’t we be subjecting all kindergarten students to long, daily academic instruction addressing skills that most have already mastered, rather than providing extra instruction only to those students in need?

Too bad we didn’t consider other options. Here’s one idea: based on a summer evaluation of children entering kindergarten, group those exhibiting a high level of skills (which is the majority of them) into a half-day setting. Then, offer one class per school of full or extended days for the remaining children. Each student gets taught at an appropriate pace, at less cost than FDK-for-all, even with midday busing.

Nothing I’ve seen tells me that we’ve done the due diligence required to demonstrate FDK-for-all’s suitability for Newtown, nor why FDK-for-all has been deemed the top (and only) educational priority for Newtown this year. Yet it represents a permanent expansion in size and cost of the school district at a time when enrollments are declining.

Sadly, the only way to reconsider FDK-for-all at this point is to vote No on the budget on April 24.

Cathy Reiss

42 Obtuse Road, Newtown                                                April 4, 2012