Mandatory Kindergarten in Wisconsin
In case you weren’t paying attention, this is about to happen.
A bill that would require all children to complete kindergarten before entering the first grade in Wisconsin is set to pass the Legislature this week.
The Assembly passed the bill last week, and the Senate is set to take it up on Tuesday. From there it will head to Gov. Jim Doyle for his consideration.
Each year, an average of just 117 first-graders haven’t been to kindergarten. That’s about one-third of 1 percent of the total number of first-graders as of last school year.
Few thoughts…
First, this is a solution in search of a problem. Of the thousands of school kids in this state, we’re talking about 117 kids who didn’t attend kindergarten, and I’m willing to bet that almost all of them were perfectly fine and ready for first grade.
Second, remember how kindergarten started in the public schools? It was supposed to be a nice voluntary program to provide some foundational instruction. Now it’s going to be mandatory. Remember this as your local school district pitched 4-year-old kindergarten as a voluntary program. That’s how it starts.
Third, since there isn’t a real problem here, why is this sailing through the legislature? Easy. Money. If kindergarten is mandatory, then every school district has to have teachers and classrooms and money and curriculum and everything else that goes with a mandatory grade. It’s another big sloppy kiss for WEAC from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. 
Hat tip Berry Laker.
Actually, the number might even be smaller as home schooled kids and kids in charter schools may not have been counted.
Another way the government dictates parenting.Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 20, 2009 at 1656 hrs
My youngest was academically ready for 1st grade. We put her in Kindergarten only because she is still very much 5 and not mature enough for a 1st grade classroom.
But I’m thinking that should be up to the parent and the teacher and the school Principal. Not some ‘crat in the State Legislature.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 20, 2009 at 1753 hrs
More mandates = more teachers = more $$ for WEAC.
Basic liberal math.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 20, 2009 at 1939 hrs
But I’m thinking that it should be up to the parent and the teacher and the school Principal. Not some ‘crat in the State Legislature.
Amen
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 20, 2009 at 1958 hrs
THis is just free daycare; no more, no less.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 20, 2009 at 2148 hrs
This is just getting out of hand across the whole state. Where will it end?
Do you think we can ever reverse all this some day?
Have a good week.
Posted by Paul on September 20, 2009 at 2154 hrs
Luckily, I grew up when there was still common sense! I could already read at age 5, so my parents and a wise old teacher allowed me to enter 1st grade and skip the finger painting and naptime. I guess it was just accidental that I did well throughout school and have a pretty successful career.
This story doesn’t even deal with grade acceleration, which should be done as often as practical. Of course then, we’d be shorting the districts on that all-important “revenue” count - I mean the official attendance count - since every little butt in a seat, every year, translates to cold, hard cash…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 21, 2009 at 0007 hrs
This mandatory kindergarten crap just burns me. The government is going to tell parents they have to hand over their kids even earlier now? This is yet another piece of enlightenment that should push more parents into homeschooling. What’s next? Mandatory governmental daycare at age 1 with soothing naptime background lullabies with communistic themes?
Posted by GAMazy on September 21, 2009 at 0723 hrs
It is very annoying - the senate is set to vote on tuesday. Call you senator today and tell them to vote no.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 21, 2009 at 0732 hrs
I understand the libitarian viewpoints expressed, however if your child is in private school, is in a predominately white well to do community, the kids start 1st grade at a similar level. However, my kids started kindergarten reading somewhat and were in class with kids that did not know the alphabet. The difference means teachers have to slow down the class for those kids….those 46% free and reduced lunch kids that were not read to before bed. Kindergarten would greatly help. You can still home school your kid for K and enter 1st grade, so I don’t see the problem.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 21, 2009 at 0918 hrs
However, my kids started kindergarten reading somewhat and were in class with kids that did not know the alphabet.
I agree that that’s a problem. But mandatory Kindergarten is not a fix for that. First, as the story states, the overwhelming number of kids already attend Kindergarten already. Second, the problem lies with the parents.
The solution to the problem is to have an established remedial 1st grade program established to bring the kids who are behind up to speed quickly and then integrate them into the rest of the class. That targets the issue instead of mandating that ALL kids go to Kindergarten - even if they don’t need to go.
Posted by Owen on September 21, 2009 at 0934 hrs
“The solution to the problem is to have an established remedial 1st grade program established to bring the kids who are behind up to speed quickly and then integrate them into the rest of the class.”
I am going to split hairs with this comment but that is easier said than done. I’ve spent many hours in K classes, holding crying 5 year olds and settling them down due to seperation issues and change of environment for the first month of school, with well off kids and low income kids, the social adjustment for a child to go from one situation to another can be difficult. 95% of kids go to kindergarten and if for personal reasons you don’t want to send your kid then you can choose not to, but it does require kids to go who would otherwise not go BECAUSE of poor parenting. The true solution would be a huge socialist mandate of getting a license before you have kids! But that isn’t going to happen and it is not the kids fault. The outcome of this requirement is if you are an involved parent and you do not want your kid to go to K you have to fill our forms stating your homeschooling, where as, bad parent has to send Johnny to school. Yes this is an invasion but in the long run helps children of parents that are invovled, and improves Public school.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 21, 2009 at 1241 hrs
In addition to the obvious problems with making kindergarten mandatory which have already been pointed out, I also am worried about what this will do to specialized, more alternative, schools out there. Once kindergarten becomes mandatory I can’t imagine these schools will still be able to run their specialized, alternative curriculum b/c they’ll be forced to do the same thing every other public school in the state is doing.
So much for parental freedom and discretion to choose schools that might do things differently b/c you feel it might be a better fit for your individual child than a one size fits all public education.
Posted by Cate on September 21, 2009 at 1324 hrs
According to WPR this morning the main push for passing this bill was to prevent parents from using kindergarten as a free daycare. Some districts are running into a problem where a child is in school for a fraction of the, the time while no sitter is available.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 21, 2009 at 2051 hrs
I am a kindergarten teacher and this bill is really necessary. Kindergarten is NOT what it used to be. Children who leave kindergarten unable to read are pretty much failing according the standards that my district has set. This measure is to make sure students who are enrolled actually show up. I am tired of sending kids to first grade who missed 60 days of school. They are failing. And it is their parents fault, not their own. They can NEVER catch up. We are more than just a day care and I challenge anyone who thinks so to visit a kindergarten today. This morning we worked on writing our numbers to 20 and reading color words. This is now the reality of what kindergarten has become.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 25, 2009 at 1212 hrs
Total Entries: 19656
Total Comments: 129831
Most Recent Entry: 02/11/2012 09:52 pm
Most Recent Comment on: 02/11/2012 04:55 pm
Total Members: 9751
Total Logged in members: 0
Total guests: 102
Total anonymous users: 0
Most Recent Visitor on: 02/12/2012 05:04 am
The most visitors ever was 538 on 12/01/2007 02:11 pm
Protected and licensed under a Creative Commons License (some rights reserved).