Officials debate 4-year-old kindergarten

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Wisconsin News

Madison’s school superintendent says it’s “very troubling” that a GOP lawmaker wants to prevent the city’s district and others from starting 4-year-old kindergarten. Senate Republican Glenn Grothman of West Bend said yesterday that the state should stop paying for new programs like those planned for Madison.

Grothman said taxpayers cannot afford them. He cited a study showing that 4th-graders in Oklahoma and Georgia continue to have poor test scores more than a decade after those states began 4-year-old kindergarten.

But Madison Superintendent Dan Nerad said there are plenty of studies that show it’s a good idea to invest in youngsters as early as possible. Beth Graue of UW Madison cites a 2005 Northstar Economics study showing that every dollar spent on 4-year-old kindergarten saves 68 cents elsewhere – because early childhood education reduces the need for more expensive special-ed programs.

Lawmakers tried twice to drop state funding for 4-year-old kindergarten – but Republican Governor Scott McCallum vetoed it in 2001, and Democrat Jim Doyle did the same in ’03. Eighty-five percent of Wisconsin school systems now have four-year-old kindergarten; more than 40,000 youngsters are enrolled statewide.

Tags: education, wisconsin, k-12, family