Experts: Half-day kindergarten a 'disaster'

The Philadelphia School District's plan to cut full-day kindergarten to help balance its budget is being decried by national education experts as a "disaster" and a "very bad decision" that could harm the development of thousands of children - especially the poor.

At the same time, many Philadelphia parents are angered and worried that half-day kindergarten would force them to choose between quitting work to be home for their children or placing them in questionable or costly day care.

And local child advocates warn that community child-care centers could not handle the tidal wave of 12,700 kindergartners likely to need placement in some kind of program.

Michael Masch, the district's chief financial officer, said the district was aware of the difficult choices, "and we deeply regret the need to take this action." But the district is hamstrung, he said, by Gov. Corbett's proposal to eliminate a $254 million statewide block grant. The district receives about $55 million of that, $51 million of it earmarked for full-day kindergarten.

"If we got more funding, or if the governor chooses not to cut the block grant, we may be able to restore full-day kindergarten," a district spokeswoman said.

With just four months until the new school year, there are also concerns that schools, teachers, students, and parents may not have time to regroup for half-day kindergarten.

"It all makes no sense," said Crystal Sears, 32, whose 5-year-old daughter, Samirah Taylor, is scheduled to start kindergarten at Clara Barton Elementary School in Feltonville in the fall.

"Not only does half-day kindergarten deprive my daughter of the education she deserves, but where do I find the safe coverage I need while I'm in school?" asked Sears, a laid-off Salvation Army worker who is on welfare and studying cosmetology.

"If we don't give kids a chance, there's no hope for a future - theirs or ours."

Numerous studies have shown that full-day kindergarten increases achievement in grades one through three, said W. Steven Barnett, codirector of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University.

The vast majority of states, he said, require districts to offer at least half-day kindergarten, but Pennsylvania does not.

"The amount of time children spend in kindergarten does matter," Barnett said. Cutting that time in half would create problems down the road, compelling teachers to spend more time on remedial courses and causing some students to be left back, he added.