Michelle Klinga wrote: Now with the Governor's proposed cuts, funding for the Hi-5 program may be dropped. This program helps to close the gap that children who miss the September 1 cut-off would suffer. Children who turn 5 between September 1 and December 31 are eligible to enroll. This also gives the English Language Learning children (a pretty high population at this small school) an opportunity to learn in an English-speaking environment before going on to that all-important first day of Kindergarten.
Mark Anderson replies: Both of my kids went to Hi 5, and it was great for my kids. On the other hand, the program concept makes no sense. How it works, is that any kids whose birthday is just after the cutoff of August 31 for going to kindergarten , get to go to Hi 5 instead. So all kids whose birthday is from September to December can enroll in the pre-school Hi 5 program. The next year these kids will go to kindergarten proper, where they are mixed in with the kids with birthdays from January to August. So the oldest and thus presumably the most advanced kids in kindergarten get extra preparation, while the younger kids are thrown in with no extra help. I was told that the reason for Hi 5 was because the state funding rules paid for any kid who turned 5 in a particular calendar year, even if they didn't hit the cutoff birthday of August 31. Hi 5 was created to get every last nickel out of MN. If you're going to fight the state to keep particular programs, I think you should at least concentrate on those that make sense. Mark V Anderson Bancroft REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
