Full-time kindergarten:
mission accomplished!

On the last day of the 2007 special session, May 15, the Montana Legislature passed an education funding bill that includes state funding for full-time kindergarten.

The program, which will be optional for districts, was a top legislative priority for MEA-MFT.

We teamed up with Governor Brian Schweitzer, Superintendent Linda McCulloch, the Stand Up For Education coalition, and others in Montana's education community in this effort.

Through our efforts, the 2007 Legislature appropriated over $28 million dollars plus $10 million in one-time start-up funding.

Nearly 200 Montana school districts have applied for full-time kindergarten funds as of July 2007.

What one jubilant MEA-MFT member says about this victory.

Some Montana school districts are already scrambling to implement full-time kindergarten. Read news stories in the: Billings Gazette, Missoulian, Bozeman Chronicle.

Background on full-time kindergarten:

Terrie Alger was skeptical when Pablo Elementary in western Montana launched its optional full-time kindergarten program three years ago.

"I started off very leery of full-day kindergarten," said Alger, an MEA-MFT member and reading facilitator/coach at Pablo. "I thought we'd have kids here crying in the afternoon."

Instead, she said, "I see our kindergartners skipping down the halls. They love school. They're entering first grade with a confidence I've never seen before, reading at second grade levels."

Alger has seen significant gains in reading scores since the school started full-time kindergarten. That's important, she said, because children who aren't reading at grade level by third grade will never catch up, putting them at serious risk for dropping out.

Today, said Alger, full-time kindergarten "is something I would fight for."

[Read what other MEA-MFT members say about full-time kindergarten.]

Study after study shows that full-time kindergarten dramatically improves academic achievement, raises reading scores, reduces behavioral problems, narrows the achievement gap between students, and reduces dropout rates. [Read NEA fact sheet on full-time kindergarten. See Stand Up For Education radio ads on full-time kindergarten.]

MEA-MFT thinks full-time kindergarten should be available to all Montana children, if their parents so choose.

How it works
In full-time kindergarten, young children stay in school for about six hours (with several breaks), five days a week, instead of just two and a half hours a day.

The added time takes pressure off of children, their teachers, and their families, according to Montana teachers in schools with full-time kindergarten.

Children have more time to learn. Teachers have more time to detect learning problems early in children's lives and give extra help to those who need it.

The result, according to studies and teachers' reports, is children who are more confident, prepared to learn, well behaved, and comfortable in the classroom.

Nationwide, about 60 percent of kindergarten students attend full-time kindergarten. In Montana, only 25 percent of children have that option.

Funding has a big obstacle. Montana school districts that provide full-time kindergarten have to pay for it on their own.

"We've sacrificed a lot" to pay for full-time kindergarten, said Frank Ciez, principal at Pablo. "We've cut back in just about every area. We have no supply budget. We've cut aides and tutoring." Still, Ciez wouldn't go back to half-day kindergarten. Neither would Pablo teachers, according to Alger.

Before the 2007 special legislative session, the State of Montana funded kindergarten students at just one-half the rate of students enrolled in grades 1-6. That made it tough for schools to afford full-time kindergarten.

More on full-time kindergarten
1. Nationwide, about 60 percent of kindergarteners attend full-time kindergarten. In Montana, only 25 percent of children have that option. It should be available to all Montana kids to level the playing field.

2. State funding will allow districts to provide optional full-time kindergarten without sacrificing other programs for other students.

3. Full-time kindergarten boosts academic achievement for all children, especially low-income and minority students. (Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, National Center for Education Statistics, and others)

4. Research shows five-year-old children are ready and able to handle six hours in school. (Early Childhood Research Quarterly)

5. Full-time kindergarten is a sound investment. A $1 investment in a child's earliest years of schooling yields a $3 return by reducing the need for costly special services. (U. of Chicago Committee for Economic Development)

6. Teachers with more time have a better chance of detecting learning disabilities and academic difficulties early in the child's life, giving the best hope for lasting improvement. (Early Childhood Research Quarterly).