A Leg Up When It Counts

One of the milestones in a child’s life is the first day of school. The early years shape children’s lives forever, determining among other things their life’s work, income levels and chances for opportunity and success.

That’s why Santa Ana Unified School District Supt. Al Mijares’ realistic proposal to add one more year of kindergarten for students who need the extra preparation is so important--and deserving of serious consideration. Some things need to be worked out, but the idea has received early encouragement from the state, a good sign.

Some educators say that children not performing at grade level by the fourth grade may never catch up. But that cycle of failure starts when a child comes out of kindergarten unprepared to keep pace in the first grade.

Too often the struggle ends with remedial programs, being held back in the higher grades or worse--never catching up and dropping out to a lifetime of unfulfilled promise and dreams.

In Santa Ana, which has a higher percentage of Latino students than any large district in the state, nearly three of four students come into kindergarten speaking only Spanish. Many immigrant parents also speak little or no English and have limited education.

And unlike starting students from higher-income families, these youngsters haven’t had any of the advantages of preschool. Under the proposed two-year kindergarten program, the second year would not be mandatory. But it would be there to give youngsters who need it extra time to learn English and develop the academic skills in reading and math to keep up with the curriculum in the first grade.

A second year of kindergarten, more state preschool programs or any other approach makes much more sense than continuing to put youngsters in over their heads and starting them in school situations fraught with potential failure. Mijares estimates that as many as 70% of the district’s incoming students need that second year. That’s about 3,500 children. That’s too great a need to keep ignoring each year.

The proposal is only in the preliminary stage. Many factors still need to be worked out. Even after the idea takes final form, it will require more money and more space. It also will need support from parents, teachers, state education officials and ultimately the governor, who has final say on the school purse strings.

But it’s worth the effort. Any approach that can help open the magic door to learning and personal achievement for youngsters struggling to keep pace in the first steps of their educational journey is worth all of the innovative thinking and support a community can muster.