Not Dr. Dixon. Image replaced per request from DNT. Replaced DNT photo can be seen here. Explanation here.
I read this story this morning and my eyes rolled out of my head. I damn near stepped on them.
The question Dr. Dixon is going to dangle before the school board is whether to pay a million dollars for all-day kindergarten.
This is an old question and during my tenure on the school board we made it available to a lot more children by charging families on a sliding scale pegged to their ability to pay for the service. Poor kids all got in free. For many two-income families all-day kindergarten is a child care necessity. However, not all families find it desirable and prefer a half day. In many cases the environment at home for affluent children is every bit as enriching as the extra half day all-day kindergarten provides.
There is no question that for parents who wish to avail themselves of it all-day K is popular. As of this writing about 300 respondents on the Trib’s online poll support the offering by a 70% to 30% majority.
What the poll doesn’t do is give the voters the choices school board members will face. If they are to spend 1 million on all-day kindergarten they will have to trim a million away from some other service or program offered by the Duluth School District. I’d like to see the poll which forced voters to choose between all-day K and something else the District offers.
Dr. Dixon made it sound like the programming he was willing to trim was not all that important. I’d like to know why, if his proposed cuts aren’t that important, they haven’t already been made. For crying out loud the story makes clear that the District is facing a $4.5 million dollars shortfall. That’s a terrific obstacle for any new spending.
I was on the School Board during much more flush times and our Board didn’t vote for All-day K for every child. The programs we would have had to sacrifice were too popular. Besides, the current situation allows impoverished families to give their youngest a leg up by giving them all day K for no charge.
Dr. Dixon’s proposal to spend money he doesn’t have will simply take away from impoverished families the small advantage that their children get a with all-day K. A universal all-day K will be touted as creating a level playing field but it sure won’t help the District bridge the education gaps between rich and poor it has finally discovered.
This is what I see:
A haggard, unpopular Dr. Dixon is throwing a Hail Mary pass. He’s got a popular program but no money. Many parents will clamor for the program while those whose children will lose out because of other spending cuts will be caught every bit as off-guard as the Woodland families who didn’t realize that their children would be bussed to Morgan Park. For Dr. Dixon ignorance is bliss.
The new board members will be caught in the headlights of eager parents and won’t be inclined to disappoint them. Dr. Dixon who should know better than to dangle this trinket won’t have to live with the dire consequences of this improvident spending. He’ll be gone having completed most of the Red Plan thus leaving his new critics on the board to deal with an even greater fiscal calamity.
The state of Minnesota will not pay for the children who sign up for expanded kindergarten program so this will put a greater burden on local taxpayers. Meanwhile, students in grades 1-12, who the state does pay for, will take that state funding with them to the school districts they bleed into rather than suffer more cuts to the programs they desire.
This is another superlative example of the great leadership of the Duluth School District.
I support the idea of all day K. I voted against it in the poll.
