When ‘Fair’ Goes Too Far

The decision by Los Angeles school officials to offer full-day kindergarten this fall seems a no-brainer. Research shows that the extended classes deliver benefits that last for years. The district has set aside $100 million to pay for the additional classrooms, and the school board voted 6 to 0 to begin phasing in the popular classes next semester. So why did Supt. Roy Romer have to plead in Sacramento for the program’s life? Because full-day kindergarten is the latest symbol in a debate over how far an academically struggling district such as Los Angeles Unified should bend to balance benefits and burdens across its large, diverse student body.

In this case, crowded inner-city schools won’t be able to offer the longer day program because they have no room for expanded classes. Less-crowded schools will start full-day kindergarten this fall, thanks to a waiver from the state Board of Education exempting the program from laws requiring equitable treatment of all students. Is that fair? No. Is it a good decision? Absolutely.

The district plans full-day kindergarten at every school within four years. Among the 180 schools in the first round are most of the best-performing elementary campuses, but officials promise that the next group will include more struggling schools. That imperfect solution reflects the reality of balancing needs in a district that draws children from million-dollar homes in the Palisades and converted garages in Pacoima.

The challenge is to equalize opportunity for deprived kids without alienating the middle-income families who had stayed with the district..

Fifteen years ago, every school in the district was put on a year-round schedule to share the burden of overcrowding.

Later, fundraising at individual schools was limited to keep wealthier neighborhoods from shoring up academic programs beyond what schools in poor neighborhoods could afford. Both moves cost the district middle-class support. More than three-quarters of district students now come from homes so poor that they get free or reduced-price school lunches. The district’s school-building program, however, has middle-class parents taking a second look at public schools; full-day kindergarten would be another lure.

Studies show that full-day kindergarten helps children learn faster and perform better for years. Poor, immigrant children benefit most, and United Teachers-Los Angeles has argued that their schools ought to get full-day kindergarten first.

“Again, the ‘haves’ get help and the ‘have nots’ don’t,” complains teachers union official Mike Dreebin. “What do you tell those parents [at overcrowded campuses] who know there are schools in other parts of the district that will have the classes and they won’t?”

More damaging to the district itself, however, would be telling other parents that their children can’t have a proven beneficial program because a school across town doesn’t yet have space.