[Vision2020] Lack of State-run Preschool Puts Idaho Students Behind

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of the Magic Valley Times-News (Twin Falls) at:

http://magicvalley.com/news/local/education/lack-of-state-run-preschool-puts-idaho-students-behind/article_b9e02f5a-dfe7-584e-b3ef-598147c0c3d9.html
 
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Lack of State-run Preschool Puts Idaho Students Behind

TWIN FALLS • Preschool used to be a place to play and learn how to get along with others.

But now, children are also learning skills — such as counting — to help them prepare for a more rigorous kindergarten experience.

I.B. Perrine Elementary School Principal Bill Brulotte said many kindergarten teachers can tell within the first week of school which students went to preschool.

“They have an advantage and they’re more likely to be successful in school,” he said.

While other options are available, Idaho is one of 11 states without a state-funded preschool program. Plus, children in the Gem State aren’t required to go to preschool or kindergarten.

“It’s up to parents to decide whether they want students to attend,” said Melissa McGrath, spokeswoman for the Idaho State Department of Education.

But the lack of a state program puts Idaho’s youth at an educational disadvantage compared to their peers in other states, according to a new report by the National Institute of Early Education Research.

The state funds half-day kindergarten and gives school districts the option of allocating funding for full-day programs. School districts are also required to offer preschool programs for students with special needs.

The Twin Falls School District’s preschool program for 3- and 4-year-olds is based at Harrison Elementary School. About 90 children are enrolled this year.

Superintendent Wiley Dobbs said it’s a federally funded program, but the state also provides some financial support.

Little Support

Several state agencies decided this fall not to apply for federal funding for early childhood education.

“We wouldn’t want to possibly expand the education system by another grade level without consulting the Legislature first,” McGrath said. The state also didn’t want to rely on one-time federal funding to start such a program.

Rep. Donna Pence, D-Gooding, said the topic has come up before at the Capitol.

“It’s not a topic that goes over well,” she said, because the major consensus among legislators is that parents should prepare their children for public school.

In 2007, Pence supported a bill — which didn’t pass — that would have set state educational standards for child-care centers. She said a lot of parents work and can’t provide preschool-type education for their children.

The lack of a state preschool program is a “big problem,” she said, especially when there are high expectations for students once they get to school.

By the time students leave kindergarten, they’re expected to be able to count and write numbers to 100, plus know letters and sounds.

Preschool Options

Despite the lack of a state-run preschool program, there are a number of options throughout the Magic Valley.

Some are through public agencies — such as the College of Southern Idaho — while other preschools are run by private organizations.

There are preschool programs through the college’s preschool lab and Child Care Center — which is just for children of CSI students and employees.

CSI’s Head Start program also includes preschool.

Director Mancole Fedder said more than 670 children are enrolled in the Head Start/Early Head Start programs. They’re for families living at or below the federal poverty level.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"If not us, who?
If not now, when?"

- Unknown


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