Misconceptions About Full-Day Kindergarten

To the Editor:

I must attempt to clear up a couple misconceptions in Russell Anderson’s letter of May 4 [“Don’t Cut Full-Day Kindergarten,” Letter Hive]. Mr Anderson wants full-day kindergarten to remain in the budget because he believes his son, who will start kindergarten next year, needs full-day kindergarten. Unfortunately, the Board of Education’s plan is not to provide full-day kindergarten to those who need it. Rather, it’s to provide full-day kindergarten to “all” kindergarteners, even to those who need a half-day, thus removing the only half-day option in town. (Private full-day options are available, even including busing.)

Misconception: “Full-day kindergarten will be required beginning in 2014 as part of federally mandated standards that Connecticut has adopted.” I assume the standards Mr Anderson is referring to are the Common Core Standards. These standards are not federally mandated, nor is full-day kindergarten federally mandated or even state mandated.

Here’s a brief history of the Common Core Standards. The Connecticut State Board of Education grabbed the dangled carrot of adopting these untested standards within two months after their publication, in order to be allowed to compete for federal “Race to the Top” funding. Two attempts and hundreds of pages of applications later, Connecticut has been denied this federal funding. Yet, we continue our march onwards with the Common Core Standards implementation plans. These plans include: starting in school year 2014-2015, the state mastery tests administered in grades 3–8 and 11 will be based on the Common Core Standards rather than the current Connecticut standards.

Misconception: “Just about every other neighboring town has already implemented full-day.” Our neighbors in Region 15 (Southbury and Middlebury), whose school board recently approved a zero increase budget, offer half-day kindergarten to all students. Monroe and Oxford, bordering towns, also offer half-day to all. Of our seven bordering towns, only Bethel and Easton currently offer full-day kindergarten for all. Brookfield and Redding offer extended-day (more hours/week than one half day, less than full-day).

If voters approve this $1 million reduction to the education budget, I hope that it will be enough of a reduction to put an end to this ill-conceived plan of full-day kindergarten for all (a key word being “all”), so those very young children requiring only a half-day still have that option.

Cathy Reiss

42 Obtuse Road, Newtown                                                 May 9, 2012