Parents decry Phila. district decision to end full-day kindergarten

Kelly Phillips Erb prepared herself for cuts at her children's Philadelphia public school: no assistant principal, no more Spanish teacher, fewer days of music instruction.

But she didn't expect to have to find a new plan for her 4-year-old son, Charlie, who was heading to full-day kindergarten at Cook-Wissahickon Elementary this fall.

Full-day kindergarten, in place in Philadelphia public schools since 1996, will be eliminated for all schools under a budget-trimming plan announced by the district Wednesday. There are about 13,000 students now enrolled in full-day kindergarten.

That means working parents will have to find a nanny, a day-care program, or some other plan for their children, who will only have kindergarten classes for half of the school day.

Parents interviewed Wednesday worried that the change would create a scheduling nightmare for households, hinder early education, and cause families to leave public schools in favor of private, charter, or suburban schools.

"The School District is killing public education in this city," said Erb, whose two daughters, ages 6 and 8, attend Cook-Wissahickon. "These parents can't just quit their jobs to pick their kids up at noon."

Erb, a tax lawyer, said she would probably pay to put Charlie through a kindergarten program at the day care he now attends.

"We're lucky in that way, I can afford it. . . . But everybody's not in the same boat."

Students with physical, behavioral, or learning disabilities may find the shorter school day particularly challenging, several parents said.

Jo-Ann Rogan, 44, said the longer day allowed teachers to spend more time with her 7-year-old son, who has epilepsy and learning disabilities, and required extra attention last year at Cook-Wissahickon.

"They have to learn how to behave in school. I don't think they can cram that in in three hours a day," said Rogan, a bartender who has a 5-year-old son heading to kindergarten this fall. "I know from watching my son's kindergarten class, in the beginning of the year they're like wild animals, and by the end of the year they're well-behaved children."

David J. Kinsley, 35, told a similar story about his son, who receives occupational, speech, and physical therapy as part of his kindergarten program at Loesche Elementary in Northeast Philadelphia.

"Changing that for him would not prepare him, in my opinion, to get into first grade and really start his school career," said Kinsley, a marketing director. "You really get one shot to do this right. Taking away full-day kindergarten is an extreme measure. . . . It's an important developmental year."

Some parents also worried that losing full-day kindergarten would mean more parents would put their children in private or charter schools or move out of the city.

"My wife and I have spent eight years recruiting families who have a choice," said Kevin Peter, whose 13-year-old son, Ben, spent his early school years at Henry School in Mount Airy. "In this city, we have such a hard time convincing middle-class and upper-class families to even take a look at public schools. . . . It's going to really impair any schools throughout the city that are trying to recruit neighborhood families back into the school."