John McComish says that All Day Kindergarten is not Daycare.

I recently received this from our other State Representative, John McComish, in my email inbox.  Any thoughts?

"Dear Friends,

 

Recently, I sent you an update on our very serious budget status.  I wanted to follow up on another important topic that is related to our budget crisis and talk to you about education issues.

 

I know many of you are interested in maintaining appropriate resources for public education and that there has been much controversy regarding All-Day Kindergarten.  Some say it is merely subsidized baby-sitting.  Others claim it is a necessary beginning for today’s modern world and its challenges.  Considering the financial investment involved, I decided to investigate and find out what I could about All-Day K, in person.

 

Toward that end, I visited four different Kindergarten classes in the Kyrene School District.  Without exception, there was considerable learning going on – and certainly no baby-sitting. 

 

I witnessed science lessons (I’ll bet you don’t know what oviparous animals are), math, reading, and spelling lessons.  I also discovered each Kindergarten class in the State of Arizona has required curriculum that includes Numeration, Data Analysis, Measurement and Geometry, Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, Science and Health, and Technology, among others.

 

Based on what I have learned, I will be working very hard during budget negotiations to maintain funding for All-Day K.  The budget crisis we are facing is so severe that some reductions to the K-12 budget will be necessary, but I will do all I can to keep public education cuts to a minimum and to protect All-Day Kindergarten.

 

As always, I look forward to hearing from you with any questions or comments.

 

Sincerely,

 

Representative John McComish

Majority Leader

Legislative District 20

(602) 926-5898"