'No excuses'

Rod Gottula of Shepherd, a member of Billings Education Association, wrote the following letter to the editor of the Gazette about full-time kindergarten:

"As the current debate about full-day kindergarten continues in Helena, it is important to remember the main issues.

"First, attendance will be optional. Parents who have the wealth and resources to prepare their children for school while remaining at home will not have that opportunity taken from them, while the children of working parents who might lack that opportunity will be given the chance to compete as the result of a level playing field.

"Second, full-day kindergarten doesn't mean that five year olds will be stuck in desks all day. Kids can still be kids. They'll still have time to play, color, and cut and paste, but they will also be actively engaged and learning the basic skills required to succeed at the upper grade levels.

"Third, state funding is an essential component for full-day kindergarten and for ensuring that five-year-olds across the state receive an equitable education. Without the help of state funding, full-day kindergarten will not become a reality in communities such as Billings; thus, making education inequitable and in violation of our state constitution.

"As an educator and a parent of two young children, I do not want my son and daughter denied the opportunity of full-day kindergarten from which children in many other states benefit; it is simply not fair that they be denied the best education possible because politicians are unwilling to support full-time kindergarten here in Montana.

"Excuses abound, but if politicians want to be able to look the people of Montana in the eye and say kids matter, then they had better be willing to fight for the proven success of full-day kindergarten."