Kindergarten-Plus to make Hill debut
 

Congress is poised to consider a measure long championed by the AFT as a promising strategy for closing the achievement gap between students from low-income families and their more privileged peers.

This fall, Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) is expected to introduce the Kindergarten-Plus Act of 2003—a new initiative that would provide federal grants to help school districts provide at-risk students with a full day of kindergarten during the summer before and the summer after the traditional kindergarten school year.

The idea traces its roots back to 2002, when AFT president Sandra Feldman outlined Kindergarten-Plus in her keynote address to the AFT national convention. The idea was received warmly by convention delegates, who went on to adopt a resolution calling on the federal government to fund Kindergarten-Plus initiatives across the states.

Since then, Feldman has taken the point in keeping the concept in the public eye through speeches, columns and one-on-one conversations with key policymakers. It was just such a conversation with Dodd last year that provided the seed for the bill heading toward Congress.

“We got a call from [Dodd’s] staffers saying ‘your boss spoke with our boss about this, and we want to work with you to see if we can make it happen,’” remembers Gabriella Gomez of the AFT legislation department. The department has been working closely with Capitol Hill staffers to fashion strong Kindergarten-Plus legislation, and many of the key elements called for in the AFT resolution are reflected in Sen. Dodd’s proposal.

The bill calls for districts serving the greatest number of children from low-income families to receive priority in the grant awarding process. It also requires that Kindergarten-Plus classrooms be staffed by highly qualified teachers and paraprofessionals who receive salaries comparable to other public school educators. And it makes clear that Kindergarten-Plus grants are intended to supplement, not supplant, other federal, state or local funds.

The bill, which the AFT hopes will draw broad support from both sides of the aisle, would authorize $1.5 billion for Kindergarten-Plus grants in fiscal year 2004. If enacted, the next big hurdle will be to ensure that Congress follows through by appropriating the funds needed to make the initiative work.

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