Kindergarten priorities needed
Times Colonist (Victoria)
Oct 22 2009

The Greater Victoria school district's early plans for all-day kindergarten are encouraging.

But big questions still remain about the government's ambitious effort to have full-day kindergarten available for half the province's five-year-olds in less than 12 months.

British Columbians should need little convincing of the benefits of all-day kindergarten, especially for children facing greater challenges when they start school. Research indicates that there are lasting gains for students.

Still, there is a worrying rush toward the goal in B.C. And the government is committing $151 million to kindergarten over the next two years while planning cuts to a wide range of other important programs.

…. (The Education Ministry will make the final decision on which schools go ahead with all-day kindergarten.)

… Pre-school experiences vary in ways that are determined by factors like household income. A child raised in an affluent home, with a stay-at-home parent and access to music lessons and pre-school and other opportunities, starts with an advantage over a child whose single parent worked two jobs to support the family.

All-day kindergarten helps ensure those children don't flounder in the early school years, or come to think of themselves as less competent or smart. It's a good investment in long-term educational success and the province's future.

Still, given the other spending cuts, the rushed schedule to introduce the program in B.C. is a concern.

…. But it has provided no money for districts to plan or prepare. There is no curriculum or assessment of the staffing required, in numbers or in skills. It would make little sense, for example, to pay a teacher to lead a class in activities that could be provided much more cheaply, yet equally effectively, by someone with different training.

And the government proposes to extend an equal share of funding to private schools, many of which already offer full-day kindergarten. In a time of cuts to health care and critical family services, that's wasteful. No one could argue that those students have the same needs as children from a disadvantaged neighbourhood or community.

Governments are often criticized for foot-dragging.

But there is a real concern that this initiative is being rushed too quickly, at too great a cost.

All-day kindergarten is a great initiative. But perhaps it should be introduced over four years, with the initial spending in areas where the need -- and benefits -- will be greatest.

The money saved could be used to restore funding to some of the critical services now being eliminated.