On Monday night at the Evansville High School LMC, the Evansville community turned out in large numbers for the 4K Hearing. It was a remarkable meeting. After the initial presentation of the proposed 4K program by Lou Havlik, questions were entertained, and then folks that wanted to make a short speech on pro or con were invited to speak.
In the course of the hearing, all of the daycare centers were heard from. In prior meetings, none had spoken. Whether it was politics, finances, diversity or any aspect of the proposed 4k program, the parents asked it. At the end of the "hearing" there was a very clear sense of the "community will" about the 4K program.
The Observer will post some of the audio of this meeting for the larger community to hear. Now----after the meeting----it is the time for the "hearing" to begin. To disregard the input of those present would be a very big setback for the Evansville community and the school district.
Stay tuned. The Evansville Observer. Even though the old Observer won't last forever----your words on the Observer will.
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I want numbers. There has been a constant throughout this discussion that there are kids that are falling through the cracks between affordable private child care and head start. OK. How many kids? Is there no other options for those children? Does the number of children falling through the cracks justify the economic burden of supporting yet more expensive, optional education expenditures in this school district?
ReplyDeleteBottom line: The education of young children is important to many and seen as state funded babysitting by others. At the end of the day you must realize that education in Evansville is already quite pricey and we must admit that compulsary education does not begin until 1st grade.
So until taxes go down and the laws of this state change it is going to be a hard pill to swallow for many when this school district unilaterally tells us that we have to pay for 4k and 5k choice and every other pre-compulsory kindergarten option under the sun for a few squeeky wheels.
I say no.
And by the way of the 500 surveys submitted (with 40 some coming back) my house which includes children that would be afftected by these programs did not receive a survey. Nice.
Anon gave an excellent post.
ReplyDeleteThe question before the board of what to do with 4 and 5 K is very complicated.
Like Anon, I think an honest look at the numbers should be the first layer of debate.
Anon seems to imply 5K Choice (or keeping the half day option) is a cost creator. Meaning it costs the school money to keep a half-day Kindergarten class. This doesn't appear to be true based on the figures I have been able to glean. Since I haven't seen a publication of ALL of the real numbers I invite any correction of my understanding.
Half-day K costs the taxpayer approximately $16,000 in mid-day bussing. It also costs somewhere around $30,000 for the benefit package of the part time teacher. (My figures are extremely approx. and if someone has the real figures, again, I would be delighted to see mine corrected).
If you remove the half-day, in all likelihood, the school board would need to add another full day class because of the SAGE Grant requirements of restricted class size in the elementary school.
While this would SAVE the school the current existing cost of the $16,000 for mid-day bussing, it would be an actual COST to the school to replace the part-time teacher with a full time teacher. The last teacher was hired at a cost of $70,000. So without considering any State Aid, the school's budget in theory changes in this way: new salary (-70,000) + part-time salary savings (+30,000) + bus savings (+16,000) or a net increase of expenses of $24,000 (tax money).
The school considers this change in Kindergarten structure in the light of the State revenue (tax money) they receive per child. While the school currently receives state tax money per half-day student, if the student goes for a full day, that child’s state allotment to the school increases as well. The school will get increased revenue for each child that is in the new full-day class. I admit to getting a little lost in this part of the equation because the student needs to be enrolled for a three-year period before the school obtains the full amount.
So to fairly evaluate the cost/benefit of replacing the half-day K class, we need to include the State Tax revenue into the equation. I think this is what we have been asking for from the school, but haven’t received in a form we can fully understand, and one that includes the costs. (I think I have seen numbers reflecting gross revenue gain, but not net).
Either way, the taxpayer already provides $X per half-day child. Increasing Kindergarten to all full day classes, will cost the taxpayer $X + $Y or more simply additional money.
And to Anon’s point, increased tax money for a non-compulsory program.