46

Political Issues/Comments / Re: Full-Day Kindergarten Snuck in Budget Without Advance Public Notice

« on: February 02, 2011, 09:18:39 PM »

Where would any of us be if we had not been inspired by a teacher in some small way? Do we quibble vociferously  when the teams we love, the writers we love, or the concert hall/ musicians we love raise their salaries and pass the increase in personal demands onto us, the consumer? We still buy the music, the cable channel (NESN, MSG, ESPN etc), we buy the NFL Package, NHL Package and anything else that brings us closer to the team we love. We keep buying and thus supporting the artists and their needs. Teachers in any district across this great country of ours are not making anywhere close to comparable salaries. Yet we vehemently and often blindly rail against them when they politely ask for more money to simply do their jobs. They are not entertaining us or even enthralling us with their feats of athletic prowess. They are simply and humbly teaching our children. They do not play guitar, sing, write books, shoot a puck, pass a ball, throw a devastating curve ball,  tackle a defenseless quarterback or even conduct the Boston Pops. They teach our kids! Perhaps the next great passer, conductor, or writer will be be in one of these classes. Perhaps the next orator, astronaut, President or CEO will emerge from humble Fairfax.

If teachers really wanted, they could hold us all accountable and ask for comparable salaries. What would we say then? If we could calculate down to the minute the amount of time a teacher spends with our children I would ask you, what is the true hourly wage of a teacher? Is it even close to what a baseball pitcher makes per inning? or even pitch? We pay the athlete what they demand without question,  but not the teacher. Where is the sense in that? However, they do not ask to be paid the same. They just ask for a reasonable, livable wage and enough money to teach our kids. Not just the smart ones, the talented ones, the athletic ones, the ones who sing like angels or the one who come from the broken home and makes our hearts bleed when we hear their story. They teach EVERY kid!

If you want an easy target to bash willy-nilly, turn your attention to the B or the NY on the hat sitting on your head. Paying someone 250 MILLION dollars to hit a ball? Where is the logic in that? Sure its fun to watch and infinitely more exciting than watching someone teach math, but think of what our schools could do with just a tenth of that money!  What is this nations overall defense budget? Why do we consistently cut funding for educational programs that are designed to protect our children and move our country to land on mars and into the next century? What could they do in education with just a fraction of this money?

Teachers, teach, not for the money. They teach for that “Fiat Lux” moment. The moment they see the light go on in their students eyes. That “Ah-Ha” moment. They are not greedy and selfish. Ask a teacher for a moment of their time and they will give you an hour. Be it before school, after school or over the summer, if a student needs help or has a question, they are there. They are kind and considerate well meaning individuals. Even though their community speaks out against them, they are back at school every day, every year, teaching the children, no matter what anyone says about them. Can we all say that about ourselves?

Teachers do not ask for respect. Teachers work hard for our children and us as parents to earn that respect. Knowledge, like respect, is earned. Is it not time we showed our teachers a bit of respect? Teachers cannot instill knowledge, they can only lead us to the threshold and launch us, to explore, to delve deeper on our own. Instilling the enthusiasm and zest for learning that will sustain us for a lifetime. Can we, should we, even try to quantify that? Is this not as valuable a life skill as hitting a ball? I would argue it is infinitely even more valuable!

I urge those who would blindly implore others to follow them into voting down the school budget to walk a mile in the shoes of a teacher. Any teacher. Could we do the same job if we put ourselves in their shoes? Experience a classroom. Teach science through Four Winds. Volunteer to help with a reading group. Observe. Learn. Open new and exciting doors. Ignite a passion. Walk a child to the office so they can take a bath and put on clean clothes. Buy the paper, markers, pencils, batteries for calculators etc out of your own pocket because the budget is not deep enough. Be the pariah in your community at budget time. Walk a mile in a teachers shoes. Then feel free to try and make that same “No” vote.

Any hard working professional deserves the opportunity to earn our respect. We should not blindly disrespect any profession. I sincerely ask, that our community respect and trust the teachers we send our children to every day. They have done nothing to any of us that would demonstrate otherwise.

47

Political Issues/Comments / Re: Full-Day Kindergarten Snuck in Budget Without Advance Public Notice

« on: February 01, 2011, 10:14:16 AM »

“Focusing on unstructured bus time, and disruptive transitions doesn't hold a lot of weight as a supportive argument either.  As pointed out, Many kids are going from school to a daycare whether it is at noon, or 3 pm.  The same additional transition exist, as well as unstructured bussing time.”

Just to clarify here, I simply meant, I would prefer not to have this transition happen in the middle of the day, if it can happen at the end of the day. The more stuctured classtime, the better.

“Education is expensive, but the cost of ignorance (non-education) is immeasurably higher.”

I could not agree more. I have attempted to point this out throughout this discussion, just not as succinctly as you.

48

Political Issues/Comments / Re: Full-Day Kindergarten Snuck in Budget Without Advance Public Notice

« on: January 31, 2011, 09:10:20 PM »

First off, I question how you came to determine that these numbers are anywhere close to accurate? Not to mention where did you gather all your information from? IF the information is indeed accurate, I question if this is even a viable approach/ argument. Your argument centers around time. How do you qualitatively or even quantifiably measure student relationships and their connections with adults? If you elect to disregard everything that really happens in a classroom, you can try to argue against full day kindergarten utilizing just the numbers i.e.: "time" with students.  However, any individual willing to spend real time with students and teachers in the classroom knows that "time" in the above argument is really quite arbitrary and only really paints half the picture.

Schools are often a safe place for our students. In many cases a student’s home life is non-existent and/or worse and  just being in the classroom with a caring teacher is enough to spur these students onto great achievements. Clearly, the more this can happen, the better. There is a plethora of research out there to support this argument as well.  Resiliency in students is a powerful thing and they (students) frequently cite these adult connections, as being essential components to their current and future success. Connections are made because adults care. What may be enough for one child is not enough for another. Teachers move from one student to another, connecting with each one... caring about every child and each of their small tastes of success. To attempt to quantify this element of time down to the minute is hard to fathom and seems to me to be rather myopic.

If parents are so infallible, why then did I watch a child crinkle cellophane chip wrappers and then pee on the floor at the last board meeting, in front of their parent, who did not seem to care that their child distracted the room from matters at hand. They then asked someone else to help clean up the mess? Just what did this parent teach this child? That it is OK to distract others and when you make a mess you can expect others to clean up after you?  Why do some boys come to school and feel the need to "mark their territory"? Why do some children come to school not potty trained at all? Why are schools teaching social skills and bullying/ harassment at all? If parents are infallible, these should all be taught at home, no? The fact of the matter is that not all parents are perfect. Thus, schools are tasked with not only educational expectations, but also hygiene, social et. al. expectations. Are these skills not the responsibilities of families and not our schools? Educators will work night and day to mold students into contributing members of a democratic society, even if it means working on potty training, but they need time. More time to meet these educational and social expectations for student learning. More time to care for the children in their charge.

You speak from a very tall pulpit about children needing their parents and how full day kindergarten is not essential etc. Today, we live in a culture where it is routine for both parents to work. Teachers who used to have too many classroom volunteers, today struggle to get just one or two a week. I am certain is not because the parents do not care, but because they do not have the time. They have their own responsibilities and are working to support themselves. Because parents all have their own sets of responsibilities, education today must then focus on the educational system and the educators in it. I know I am taking some liberties here, but if we use your time argument against a full day program, where do these children go at the end of their school day? Most of them go to some sort of child care program. Yes, a few of them may go home but most do not. If more time in the classroom is bad, how is more unstructured time on a bus even close to being a good thing? Not to mention the savings to the district if we could cut out that mid-day bus run and only have the AM and PM runs...

Kids need caring educators. If we bog ourselves down in the minutia of little things, we lose the big picture. The big picture is indeed increased money for the school budget in coming years. However, the big picture is increasing student time with caring adults. It is essential and cannot be quantified or even qualitatively measured. It is essential that our students meet the ever expanding educational expectations. If we cannot count on all parents to do this equally, we must then provide this same level of service to all children district wide. This can then only be done in a structured, standardized fashion.

If the argument against full day, is just that, the full day, what is to be said about the inherent craziness that several transitions in a day can bring about? AS I mentioned earlier, many students in our system come to school and are then subsequently bused to their various child care providers. This is OK with you? At least with full day kindergarten kids are in one place for the full day and they are not transitioning from school and then to childcare. How much time is OK to spend on a bus in transition to the child's care provider?  If we are talking about time, I believe time in the classroom far outranks time on a bus! DO NOT waste my child's time this way when we could instead provide instruction in a nurturing, caring  environment throughout the day! Time is indeed precious, your point here is indeed well taken. However, I want my child’s day/time full of learning and exploration both structured and non-structured, not taking another unstructured bus ride and making another unnecessary transition.

49

Political Issues/Comments / Re: Full-Day Kindergarten Snuck in Budget Without Advance Public Notice

« on: January 17, 2011, 09:11:33 PM »

MKR, Near as I can figure, there are two documents that should be considered. The first, is the curriculum documents that can be found on the district website.  They list the pre-K through 12 curriculum for English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Technology (http://www.bfafairfax.com/pages/curriculum.html). From the looks of it, the posted curriculum is quite comprehensive here and after looking at it before responding to you, I wonder if it is feasible for students and teachers to complete the outlined curriculum in a full day program let alone the existing ⅔ day program.

The next document is no less daunting. This is the document published by the state of Vermont and lists Vermont’s Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities (http://education.vermont.gov/new/pdfdoc/pubs/framework.pdf). From the states DOE website, they say that this document was created to:

1. To provide a structure from which standards-based district, school, and classroom curriculum can be developed, organized, implemented, and assessed.
2. To provide the basis for the development of a state, local, and classroom comprehensive assessment system.
3. To make explicit what may be included in statewide assessments of student learning.

Patricia is correct, the state does not mandate kindergarten, however this document is not only exhaustively comprehensive, but clearly outlines standards for Pre-K through grade 12. Not mandated, but exhaustively outlined.

I do not know if this completely answers your question or not, though I do not think it does, because we have not heard from the district as to their expectations for the move to full day. Will they expect teachers to add more content? Or will they be expected to ensure that all students meet the standards outlined here? In my opinion it seems impossible for them to thoroughly cover the current expectations in existing school day in a manner that ensures an enduring understanding for all students.

*I tried to post these sites as links but could not figure out the link editor, sorry.

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Political Issues/Comments / Re: Full-Day Kindergarten Snuck in Budget Without Advance Public Notice

« on: January 17, 2011, 02:11:33 PM »

Just to clarify:
1)   By Patricia and Co, I was simply referring to those on this forum that have been kind enough to participate and/or lurk in this conversation. Any other inference is solely the responsibility of the reader.
2)   When you vote down a budget, ANYTHING in that budget can be eliminated. NOT just the item you disagree with. A boards first assumption when a budget is voted down, is that it is too expensive. The natural consequence of that is to cut money. My statement that the board will/may cut programs and thus $$$ is not intended to be a scare tactic, but reality.
3)   Again, when you make the statement: “The research, however, does not support the notion that full-day kindergarten provides any lasting advantage”.  The, “the research” in that statement, expects the reader to infer that ALL research, “… does not support the notion that full-day kindergarten provides any lasting advantage”. My point was simply, that this is not the case. ALL research does not say this. Some may indeed make this conclusion. Other studies may find that there is a lasting impact. Which leads me too…
4)   … My statement that we have come to an impasse with the research argument was to simply acknowledge that there is equal justification in the research on both sides, to either support or fight against full day kindergarten. What it boils down to is: what do each of us think is in the best interest of children, period.
5)   My statement that you created your profile to post your thoughts was indeed off. I apologize. However, your profile also states that you have made six total posts here, all six of them in this forum. Again, I appreciate each one of them. Even though I may not agree with you, I appreciate the opportunity to have this public discourse and I hope that those who have read this have taken away one or two new pieces of info that will allow them to be informed voters, no matter how their vote may fall.
6)   I know it is obvious, but I will be voting Yes on the 2012 school budget, our students and their teachers deserve our support.

51

Political Issues/Comments / Re: Full-Day Kindergarten Snuck in Budget Without Advance Public Notice

« on: January 16, 2011, 03:26:14 PM »

If we are paralyzed by what if’s and maybes then we will never move forward. We can’t assume something MAY happen and let that influence all of our decisions today. As for my comment about items being deleted from the budget, if this budget is voted down then anything, is fair game. For this budget cycle there is a ZERO percent increase if we go to full day kindergarten. Do we really think the board would remove an item that this year costs them nothing? At the very least, lets go for it this year and evaluate the validity of the program and gauge community support before the next budget cycle when there would be a financial impact. As for merging with Fletcher, they have1/2 day kindergarten now, and have approved a move to full day. Would we tell those parents upon a merger, nope sorry back to 1/2 time? There is something to be said for the standardization of both curriculum and programs across the district, that this would bring.

As for the “extras” that are again mentioned, custodial costs would be the same. Each room would be no dirtier and they are cleaned at the end of the day anyway along with every other room. Cafeteria costs? Again, marginal, as families pay for lunches or utilize the free and reduced programs. As for supplies, I think we would all be surprised at the volume of supplies each individual teacher in that entire school supply to their classrooms out of their own pockets.  Though Kindergarten may not be mandatory, it is fast becoming essential. So, though VT does not mandate it, I am curious to see the data for where the students who did not have kindergarten, full or 2/3 day are when they enter first grade.  I suspect we would find that a majority lag behind their peers quite substantially.

I think it is time. I notice that Patricia created her account here in order to spread her view point. I created my account, in order to offer a counter point to hers.  It is my hope that the community will see the value in both of our positions and make their own informed decision. Again, I want to know that I am part of a democratic society full of critical thinkers; each of them capable of making their own informed decisions.

I know that nothing will convince those rooted in their belief to change those beliefs. Patricia’s position is certainly valued within our community and that’s good. She certainly makes a logical case for her position. I hope that she feels the same about me, when she and her peers reflect upon our discussion. I think we have done a reasonable job of presenting both sides to this coin and I do not think we can effectively push this discussion any further. Just as we do in the research, we have a stalemate, with no one side the victor.

As I said, my intention was to be the counterpoint, in this discussion. I feel that this discussion has run its course and valuable ground was gained on both sides. Now it is up to the community to decide, should the BFA Fairfax schools institute a full day kindergarten program or not? Again at ZERO impact this budget cycle. The research on this topic, if anything, is inconclusive. There is no such thing as an absolute, (except absolute zero), as nothing happens ALL the time. Not ALL research says just one thing about this topic. So, research aside, we must ask ourselves, is it worth it? Is the cost money wise too great? Is the cost of a full day on our children too great? Is the cost of voting down a budget in the best interest of every child? These questions and many others are the ones we as voters must consider as we go to town meeting and subsequently to the polls to formally vote. Though I hope community members vote yes, because I believe the cost of not voting yes is way too high, I understand the opposite perspective enough to respect it.

So, I encourage people to use reason and passion when making this decision. Individually each of these ideas are powerful, however, we can lose sight of the forest for the trees when we decide using exclusively one or the other. Don’t let your passion for a subject, rule your reason. For, it is when we combine the two, that we make truly powerful, meaningful and important decisions.

I think it is time for me to say thank you to you Patricia and Co., for this opportunity and to Henry Raymond for the forum, (both literally and figuratively). I will see you at the polls.

52

Political Issues/Comments / Re: Full-Day Kindergarten Snuck in Budget Without Advance Public Notice

« on: January 16, 2011, 06:32:51 AM »

10-15 or 6-8 year old research, so what? You mention several times you want the board to re-open the study because the data is old. Said research, of which you were a part is 3-4 years old and thus by using your standards, for determining validity and efficacy, (the newer it is the more valid it is), younger and thus more valid than the research you cited. Meaning, it is still a valid and integral part of the discussion for determining whether or not full day kindergarten is a viable option for our community. It is not out of date and in need of being re-opened, re-tested and re-submitted.  Even though as you mention, the vote then was not unanimous then, people on that very committee have since changed their minds and believe that now is the time for full day kindergarten. Not to mention, if you use the radically informal data here in this forum, there are by my calculations, currently, seven forum members (significant others included) who support full day, four that clearly do not (significant other included) and one undecided.  The numbers are 10-4-1 if we include the school boards votes here. Using your measuring stick for research validity, my numbers are more recent, thus valid and the yes votes here seem to indicate it should indeed be a part of the budget.

You want transparency? By definition the fact that the item was discussed in a public forum and not hidden within a larger bill like some pork barrel piece of legislature means that there is transparency here. Albeit a bit opaque, but it is certainly there for public debate. The argument and comparison to a home budget is totally relevant. Full day kindergarten has been a part of every budget discussion since 2008. The district took seriously the states edict to level fund and as a result it was removed every budget cycle until now. Clearly, the district supports the idea but has not felt it had the funds to support it until now. We all make similar decisions with our own personal lives. Forgoing desired items until one day we decide the time is right for that expense. Our district has decided that the time for this budget item is now.

As ANS Baker said on this forum earlier, “This isn’t a “research-based” discussion.  There is no definitive research either way.  It’s about a community making a decision in the best interest of the children.   Look around us – why have so many other school districts implemented full-day kindergarten if it is truly so detrimental and costly to the community?”  DrewCash, right in this forum, took the liberty of finding many statements in FAVOR of full day kindergarten within the very research you cited. Not in just one article, but in every one of them. Yet, you go on to say, “The research, however, does not support the notion that full-day kindergarten provides any lasting advantage”. 

Again, as discussed several times already, taken as a whole, this statement is an incredibly irresponsible, gross over- generalization. The whole of full day, kindergarten efficacy research, most certainly DOES NOT say this! If anything the research leaves us at a stand-off, equal on both sides. So, let us take research out of the equation, because we can both use it to make it say whatever the heck we want it to. This is about the community making a decision about what is in the best interest of our children. What is so bad about full day kindergarten? Can the thousand if not hundreds of thousands of district with full day kindergarten all be wrong? What about the fact that in the east, children go to school for a full day (which is actually 2-4 hours longer than our existing school day), six days a week? Is that wrong too? Full day kindergarten is not the root of all evil…  I promise. If it added a huge dollar figure to the budget I might agree with you. In the long run the overall budget impact is quite small with potentially a HUGE return. Even if it is just a “big” return is it not worth it?

Lastly, I honestly, do not understand why you would encourage the entire community to vote down an entire school budget. That seems rather brash and just a bit dangerous. Do you realize that you would not just be impacting the kindergarten program, but the entire school budget? Are you willing to sacrifice any and all budget items for the sake of a full day program? What if full day is left in the next budget and theater is subsequently cut before the budget comes back to the community. Was this all worth it? We all saw (or most of us did based on the attendance) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Beauty and the Beast. Clearly, the answer is NO. Is the thought of a full day program that bad that you are willing to risk anything in the budget just to prove your point? What is it about full day kindergarten that you are truly afraid of?

53

Political Issues/Comments / Re: Full-Day Kindergarten Snuck in Budget Without Advance Public Notice

« on: January 15, 2011, 05:34:20 PM »

Patricia, I am flattered that you thought enough of my argument to cite me, not once but twice. As for my point about Rest, Relaxation and Play, these three are not necessarily meant to be mutually exclusive. As we know from both experience and research, play can be both relaxing and restful. Any break the brain gets from the same routine, is essential and energizing.  Have you ever been so tired you read the same paragraph over and over? Simply get up, and walk the dog, move around, get a drink of juice and when you return to your book or work, you are able to attack it anew.

When I have an older student work with me, changing the routine is and adding structure are often essential components in bringing about real learning and alleviating the frustration and anger that comes with being a frustrated teen and/or learner. The same is true for the younger children. Recess, quiet play, a soft chair and good book will calm a tired mind and allow for fresh learning to take place. I did not mean to imply in my original post that rest = naps, but breaks from the hard work that takes place in the classroom does equate to rest.

True, there may be no curriculum additions… now, but inevitably there will be. Not to mention that the current curriculum is expansive enough as  it is and adding more time will, as I stated before, allow for students to begin to own their learning. The frenetic pace these teachers must present information in currently, in order to cover the required curriculum is not conducive to real, lasting learning. The more gentle the pace  the learning can take place in, over the longer day will ensure an enduring understanding and quite possibly less tired students at the end of the day.

Again, we come to the issue of cost, and you mention salaries. Currently, four teachers are as you say, 2/3 time employees. Three of these teachers are currently teaching for a full day, each for 1/3 of the year. Why have you failed to mention in any of your arguments the reason for this? They began doing this after full day was removed from the budget the first time. This was instituted in order to offer FULL DAY kindergarten, aka “Club” to students who needed a bit of remediation. If we currently pay three teachers to be full time for the school year are the increases really so dramatic as to warrant discussion here? As for the incidentals you mention, lights etc. I think that this too is an unnecessary argument. Teachers are at BFA quite late at night “consuming incidentals” and we do not complain about that. How many incidentals can 60 little bodies really consume?

As an aside, for the 15-20 children (give or take a few), who participate in club, some wonderful learning and support for that learning take place. Children that may have been forced to move on with their peers even though they may not have fully grasped concepts like, number and letter recognition, letter sounds and beginning reading skills etc. can now leave Kindergarten owning this knowledge. Are they tired? Sure they are. However, they have all had fun in their learning environment, and remain in step with their peers.

We are role models for our children, most certainly. I certainly hope my children read this discussion and are pleased at the level of considerate, open minded discourse taking place. It is a wonderful thing to be able to discuss items like this, and not resort to childish behavior. It is discussions like this that encourage people to have faith in their leaders and support initiatives, like full day kindergarten. That said, the process that was followed three years ago is not “past its sell by date”. You cited research 10-15 years old, should we discount it because it is “old”? The process that was followed three years ago yielded results that actually supported the addition of full day kindergarten. It was not a lack of support that brought about its removal from the budget, but an edict from our state leaders imploring us to radically trim budgets. The current directive to cut some 23 million from the education budget makes me very upset. What do you think gets cut from a budget? Certainly not Special Education funding. Programs essential for student involvement and success get cut. Be it Reading Recovery, Band, Art or Football, they face the chopping block before anything else. If you have a problem with monies, ask yourself why communities are asked to pay as much as $20,000 for one students’ out of school educational placement. The state does not pick up this entire cost, we do.  If we trim our portion of the 23 million from the budget what are we left with? How do we do what is best for kids with that number?

As for the transparency you speak about, I doubt that any of our home budgets are as transparent as you expect the school budget to be.  We have all come home to the unexpected “must have” item. What you are really talking about here, is trust. Though we come home to that unexpected item, we all TRUST that it was a smart, well intentioned purchase. I trust that, though this may have not been discussed ad nauseum this year,  that it is the right thing to do.  This idea HAS been discussed before and if the school board did not feel they had the funds before now to make this work, and now they do. So be it. Bottom line, I TRUST that they are making decisions with our money that ultimately are in the best interest of our children.

54

Political Issues/Comments / Re: Full-Day Kindergarten Snuck in Budget Without Advance Public Notice

« on: January 14, 2011, 06:17:22 PM »

Thank you, Drew.  As one of the biggest road blocks for full day kindergarten at this time is the cost it may be beneficial to see a break down of the additional cost as well.  If we are going from 4 classrooms to 3 wouldn't that help counter the cost for full day?

I think this is a part of the argument Patricia was making earlier and that I support. There appears to be confusion year over year from both our elected officials and representatives of our school district as to what these costs will be. I too think that the economical implications are still unknown and need to be discussed. This is information I do not have. If someone comes back to me and says it only costs $50,000; there has to be a way to generate the $50,000 in the existing budget. If you tell me its going to cost $500,000 then we have a different story altogether.

It is my understanding from the meeting that for the first year there is no impact on the budget, (thus no direct property tax increase from its implementation) as Medicaid funds can and will be used to pay for the program.  After that the impact is not even close to the artificial "$50,000" threshold you mention. If fact, as I understand it, the number is closer to $5,000 for the first year (2012-2013) with slight increases from year to year after that. Even if I mis-heard the numbers, I am not off by much, and we are certainly looking at WAY less than potential numbers discussed earlier.

Again, this was discussed during the meeting and should be public knowledge, and part of the discussion as you suggest. Failure to cite these numbers early on in the discussion is just a bit unfair, as it artificially colors the decision making of those who were not present and are using this forum for information. So, not only is full day kindergarten a necessary part of our educational future, we can do it with much less impact on the overall budget than the spiraling out of control Special Education budget. Seems like a no brainer to me to simply make this happen.

55

Political Issues/Comments / Re: Full-Day Kindergarten Snuck in Budget Without Advance Public Notice

« on: January 14, 2011, 05:57:06 PM »

Honestly, I cannot believe we are even having this conversation. Just last night “new curriculum” was approved by the DOE and I believe, deemed essential for Kindergarten and First Grade. Now, I understand the arguments presented for why full day kindergarten should be removed from the budget. I understand why people find it necessary to stand on their soap box and rant about an item that has been under consideration for the last four years.  What was not mentioned earlier was that during the initial attempt it was indeed added to the budget and then when Governor Douglas asked communities to radically trim budgets, it was removed. So, it has been fully vetted, now it is time to implement it.

     In an earlier post, the following point was made. “These children are ours.  We are their first and their most important teachers throughout their lives.  We are responsible for the adults they become.”  These children are indeed ours, and as a parent I would kindly offer that if we are so infallible and amazing as parents, why are certain things being forced upon the educational system to teach? Bullying and  Harassment to name but a few. In the case of these two and more specifically cyber-bullying, the schools are now being asked to act as law enforcement. The current legislation asks them to investigate, treat, punish and monitor victims and perpetrators alike. When did this responsibility fall off the plate of us parents? If you want to make changes to school budgets, work to let teachers and administrators teach, not force them to serve as police officers and teach the virtues of Emily Post.

If people have an issue with the length of the Kindergarten day, then speak to the DOE. As they add expectations to the curriculum, this teaching and learning cannot “just happen”. Teachers need time to teach and students need time to learn. As we all know from watching our children grow, play is essential to child development. As you increase the classroom expectations, you increase the educational demands placed on students and teachers. What you are left with are students and teachers under a tremendous amount of pressure to teach as well as learn material in increasingly shorter periods of time. Moving forward with the next lesson becomes is essential. Spending time differentiating learning ceases and those who do not grasp the information the first time around inevitably get left behind. It goes without saying that increasing the day means increasing curriculum (see the DOE’s ever expanding list of essential skills to be taught in Kindergarten), but most importantly it means spending more time with each student thus ensuring their enduring understanding!

As a Counselor, I see the results of this everyday.  I see the reluctant High School student who has consistently felt behind at school and is frustrated playing educational catch-up. There is tremendous satisfaction in teaching and helping these students.  I often wonder though, what if we focused our attention and money EARLY on in the process would we continue to have these problems (why do we cut programs like Reading Recovery but then in turn increase special education funding). I think full day kindergarten no matter how it is implemented with time for rest, relaxation and play is essential and inevitable. Studies show rest, play and a relaxed learning environment re-invigorates the brain and stimulate learning. When learning happens in a relaxed environment more and better learning can take place. It is time to invest our money in our future. Our future is our children and they deserve our respect and attention. Too often education is the scapegoat for cutting funds, why? Are we not just hurting the kids we claim to be serving so well?

I think it is time we let the educators we trust with our children decide what is best for them. If we take a petty, selfish stance and make petty bitter sounding arguments, what does that teach our children? Does it teach them to be critical thinkers? Where we weigh all options and ultimately select the best option, or does it teach them to be loud and petty. I want a world of critical thinkers. I want a world where logical arguments can be presented and decisions are made based on information, passion and reason. Not just passion. Passion is important in decision making; just don’t let it rule your reason.

I trust the elementary educators and administrators to do what is in the best interest of my child and for future children. If my kid takes a short nap at day care, and learns more as a result, so be it. If they have play time and learn more as a result, so be it. No matter what full day kindergarten may cost, ultimately the education our children receive is priceless. I believe it is time we supported the school and their decision to implement full day kindergarten.  Not once has anyone said thank you to these devoted educators in this forum. We all expect them to do more with less and then trash them when they speak up and tell us they need a bit more. When it comes to educating my child, money should be no object. If it means eating beans and rice, I will eat beans and rice if it ensures a quality education. We trust teachers with our precious children, let’s give them the support they need to do the jobs we need them to be passionate about. If that means full day kindergarten and an increase in my taxes then bring it on! Keeping it out of the school for any reason is ludicrous and criminal.

The argument about salaries and benefits is juvenile and petty. Most teachers live in the district and essentially contribute to their own salaries. That said, if you took the time to examine a school budget in detail, a significant portion of the budget is spent on special education, significantly more than on salaries and benefits.  Special Education costs are HUGE and are ever growing. I do not believe trimming a school budget ever helps the kids as ultimately, it is programs like Reading Recovery that are designed to catch kids before they enter the Special Education arena are cut. These programs essentially cost nothing year to year. Without the safety net they provide to students, more children are referred to special programs to catch up and this dramatically contributes to the ever increasing cost of Special Education. Full day kindergarten in turn represents a minute percentage of the overall school budget.  If paying for full day kindergarten keeps just a few students out of Special Education, think of what we could do with the savings!

Lastly, if you feel you must vote no on the school budget, vote no because you have researched the impact of full day kindergarten on children and believe after synthesizing all the info it is important to send the message that you are not in favor of it (the Critical thinkers vote). Please do not vote no, simply because you are mad at perceived imperfections or wrongdoings in the process (the petty vote). This only hurts the kids. Also, don’t be blinded by the topic of full day, there are many other line items in the budget that could be deemed too expensive and legitimate reasons to ask the board to re-examine the budget. That said, it is my opinion that if we think about the big picture and the positive impact full day will have on our kids a vote of “yes” on the budget is in order here.