Edited by author 09-30-2003 06:47 PM

Kindergarten half-days are now an inconvenient anachronism: working parents must seek for-pay options to cover the other half-day.

I know this isn't what you mean, but.... altogether too many parents view schools as a substitute for daycare, or as little more than state-paid daycare centers. Your kid is going to be shine in class, due to the structure and environment she has at home. But kids whose parents view school as little more than a place to dump the kids for the workday are, for the most part, in for a rockier academic ride - and many will be a detriment to the public school experience of their peers.

I favor greater state support for daycare - particularly given the economic realities whereby, year after year, we see an enormous wealth transfer to the rich while the working class sees its real wages decline, while daycare costs spiral upward. But while the reasons for half-day kindergarten are certainly an anachronism (as is the "summers off" school year), let's be sure that we keep the public schools focused on their central mission - educating kids.

My local elementary school just lengthened the kindergarten day slightly, at the request of the teachers. Because of the new state academic standards (yes, for kindergarten), they simply didn't have enough time in a day to teach to the requirements.

Are they also assigning a specified amount of busy work, er, I mean homework each night? Or does that have to wait until next year?

I probably suffered horribly in my academic development by not attending kindergarten, even in the days before "new state academic standards".... It is the rich tapestry of educational opportunity brought to us by endless hours of standardized testing, in an environment of "zero tolerance" rules, which gives me such incredible respect for school administrators.

Nope, no homework yet.

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