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Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Turn 5, Head To School
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A bill in the state Legislature would lower the mandatory schooling age to 5 and require parents to send their kiddies to kindergarten for a full school year. According to an AJC news brief from late last week, the legislation by state Rep. Alisha Morgan (D-Austell) has failed previously because of concerns about the added cost.
Kindergarten is offered in public school systems throughout metro Atlanta and pre-kindergarten is free for 4-year-olds through the state Department of Early Care and Learning. But many families still wait to start their children’s formal education until first grade. (Roughly a third of children age 3 to 5 do not attend nursery school, preschool or kindergarten.)
I suspect lawmakers may not just be concerned about the additional cost of mandatory kindergarten. They’re probably also worried about hearing from angry parents who don’t want to be told when to send their babies to school. Of course, those parents still must abide by current law, which requires that children be in school — private, public or home school — by age 6.
Certainly, some boys and girls have a difficult time adjusting to the classroom. But in the 21st century is 6 too late to be starting a student’s studies?
