"Holy smokes!" President Obama Releases Full Pre-K Plan

[frazzled]

31. That's a good idea

Though I suspect that if there are still seven underpopulated schools in, say, Englewood, they might still have to consolidate to achieve such a pre-school program with cost efficiency and the best concentration of educational resources.

One of my suggestions for the district involves a different kind of consolidation, which I think would be of enormous value. When my kids (now in their 20s and early 30s) were young, because there was a desegregation program still in place, the public elementary school we chose to send them to (there was choice at that time) was spread between two schools, one in a middle class neighborhood, one in a nearby poorer and predominantly black neighborhood. At first I was leery of this situation of having to change schools midway through the elementary years, but it turned out to be the best thing in the world. The first school was K-3, the second 4-6. The benefits were:

(1) The K-3 school had a very gentle atmosphere overall. The oldest kids were around eight years old, so sending your five-year-old to Kindergarten was not so intimidating for them. All-school activities were able to be geared toward that age group. This worked even better in the 4-6 school, which is a very unified age group.

(2) Because there were twice as many students in each grade (say, 6 first grade classrooms instead of the three that would exist in a K-6 school), more refined divisions and attention could be given to different needs, by teachers sharing responsibilities. The six first-grade teachers, for instance, could each handle two different reading levels, so there could be 12 different levels and focuses to assign kids to, instead of a single classroom teacher having to deal with a wide range of skill levels in one class.

(3) Resources could be much more focused in each of the schools, making for more resources at each level and at a lower cost. For example, a library in a K-6 school has to have books across all seven grades. By dividing the schools in two, each could purchase twice as many books and materials aimed at just that age level for the same cost. It worked even for P.E. classes, where you didn't have to buy 7 different sizes of jump rope, but only 3, and thus could afford other equipment on the same budget.

All in all, this system was excellent for academics, for emotional development, and for cost effectiveness. In addition, it had the benefit of mixing kids from different socio-economic backgrounds, which was good for all.