Bill alters age requirement for California kindergartners
By Tracy Correa, McClatchy Newspapers
Monica Hoenig could have enrolled her 4-year-old son Ryan in kindergarten this year, but she was concerned that his lack of maturity would cause him to lag academically – not only now, but in years to come.
So she signed him up for a pilot transitional kindergarten program at Washington School, a charter school in Kingsburg, Calif.
The transitional program gives Ryan an extra year to learn some of what’s taught in kindergarten. But Ryan also can learn at a slower pace – and with far less pressure to master skills such as writing.
The new program in Kingsburg, one of a growing number of transitional kindergarten classes statewide, would be mandated under proposed legislation that would hike the age of kindergartners and give younger children the chance to be better prepared when they enroll.
Parents and some education activists have tried for years to raise California’s age requirement for kindergarten, but past bills failed to win legislative support.
Oh please. Just do a simple assessment of the child to determine if he or she is ready for kindergarten.
There will be a whole new segment of children starting kindergarten at almost 6 years old. Great for the employment of teachers and aids. Bad for many, many of the youngsters and the taxpayers.
Thank you educrats—for nothing.
And who will pay for all those individual assessments? Who will DO the assessments? What about when the parent disagrees? Who will mediate? That is one of the problems with this public school system. Way too many people making decisions about people’s lives and spending other people’s money to do it.