Superintendent tells lawmakers full-day kindergarten top priority for educators

Kirsten Searer

Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2005 | 9:35 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Full-day kindergarten is the top legislative priority for educators this year, Clark County Superintendent Carlos Garcia told the Assembly's Education Committee Monday.

And Garcia said the state's superintendents and school boards don't want to settle on a full-day kindergarten program for at-risk students only.

"All-day kindergarten will increase opportunities for all students to learn," he said.

This is the second legislative session that the Nevada Association of School Boards and the Nevada Association of School Superintendents have pushed their iNVest program, a compilation of $646 million in new funding for the state's K-12 schools.

This is the first time, however, that the groups made their priorities so clear.

Garcia put three things on educators' second tier of priorities: About $47 million designed to help schools make their adequate yearly progress, about $60 million to help English language learners and about $31 million to help schools deal with basic inflation on fuel and energy costs.

In their final priority, the educators hope to push salary increases for licensed personnel, pointing out that teachers have received about 6 percent in cost of living adjustments in the past six years, when the real cost of living over that time was about 18 percent.

"Our teachers have lost 12 percent of their earning power and yet we expect them to continue on?" Garcia asked.

The list of priorities bypassed other iNVest funding requests for health care, classroom discipline, professional development, and books and supplies. Garcia said the priorities were set by all 17 of the state's school districts, not just by the mammoth Clark County district.

Reaction to their priorities was mixed on the Education Committee, which is a policy group and cannot grant the funds. The Senate Finance Committee will hear the first arguments for the iNVest program.

Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno, said she wished the superintendents would focus on making adequate yearly progress instead of full-day kindergarten, saying she wanted to emphasize accountability.

But Education Committee chairwoman Bonnie Parnell, D-Carson City, a former teacher, said she thinks full-day kindergarten has a chance this legislative session. With the advent of more assessments, legislators are realizing they need to make the most of a child's early education, including with a more challenging kindergarten curriculum.

"They're not doing glitter anymore," she said. "They're actually learning to read."

Garcia pointed to a Clark County district study of kindergarten students from a wealthy Summerlin school. Students in a full-day, tuition-based program increased scores on an early literacy assessment by 364 percent between October and January.

Students in a half-day program increased their scores by just 120 percent in the same period, the study showed. Garcia said the results are one of many that show students of all backgrounds would benefit from a full-day kindergarten program.

Full-day kindergarten for all students in the state would cost an estimated $72 million a biennium.