Teaching must begin before kindergarten
Published 9:18 am Wednesday, April 27, 2011
When the Rock Hill Child Development Center closes its doors at the end of the school year, it will be a sad day for students in the district.
It will be an even sadder commentary on our flawed educational system that is focused more on dollars than on results and what is best for students.
Ohio joins 43 other states that either don’t fund or only minimally fund preschool education.
Despite significant quantifiable evidence that students who have attended preschool perform better in the classroom, the state doesn’t think it is worth the money.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering Ohio’s educational system has long been declared unconstitutional.
Rock Hill is doing the right thing by essentially closing the preschool and shifting two of the seven rooms to the elementary school. The district simply cannot subsidize it out of the general fund and force sacrifices on the required educational grades.
But even doing what’s right doesn’t make it feel any less wrong.
Rock Hill and many other school districts across the state are handcuffed when it comes to preschool education.
The existing education funding system simply doesn’t add up to be in the best interest of Ohio’s students.
The state may have a fiscal deficit, but until these types of problems are addressed it will continue to have an educational one as well.