When Ojeya Cruz Banks moved from New Zealand to Ohio a few years ago, she had to manage the logistics of starting a new life all by herself. Fortunately, she was able to find a house beside a public elementary school, which gave her the impression that she could easily walk to pick up her daughter from school – a convenience that was vital for her because she did not own a car yet. But when she went to register her daughter for kindergarten, she was told that the only available option was a half-day program that would bus students to a day-care center on the outskirts of town for the afternoon. Although the school district did offer a limited number of full-day slots, those spots had already been claimed in a spring lottery and required a tuition cost. “I was like, ‘Cost me? What? Public school costs money here?’” Cruz Banks said.
Similar to Cruz Banks, many parents in the United States might think that a free, full-day kindergarten program is a necessary aspect of the country’s public education system. However, this is not always the case.
The majority of U.S. schoolchildren go to kindergarten, and 79 percent of them are enrolled in full-day programs. Unfortunately, kindergarten education is not nationwide as guaranteed as one might think. Instead, kindergarten policies and funding vary from state to state, district to district, and even within school systems. Additionally, at least 29 states do not require districts to provide full-day kindergarten, and some families may not be able to afford the full-day option, even when it is offered. Although tuition for public kindergarten is not the norm, some schools charge fees in at least 12 states.
All in all, a significant number of children miss out on the education they deserve, including children enrolled in half-day kindergarten programs, full-day students who have to pay tuition, and the few children who do not attend kindergarten. This leaves parents to look for alternatives such as paying tuition or finding childcare, which can be hard to find given the national shortage of care providers for half-day school hours. Mostly, families are left on their own without societal support when their children are extremely vulnerable.
The necessity of good early-childhood education cannot be overstated. At this critical stage of brain development, children are at ages 5 and 6, so kindergarten classes cover building blocks of core subjects such as reading and math, in addition to basic social, emotional, and motor skills. Experts agree that full-day programming is beneficial for children both academically and socially, and studies show that children enrolled in full-day offerings show greater literacy improvement than those in half-day programs.
Policies that would expand full-day offerings seem popular among parents, especially for families where both parents work or those struggling with the cost of living. The COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the need for quality early-childhood education with many students missing out on kindergarten enrollments levels plummeting to levels not seen since the 2000s. America needs universal free, full-day kindergarten. This need is more significant now than ever before.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
