• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Education / Senate panel discusses lowering madatory school age

Senate panel discusses lowering madatory school age

January 20, 2009 By admin

Legislation considered by a Senate panel today would lower the age when kids would be required to attend school from six to five years old. Senator Bill Heckroth, a Democrat from Waverly sponsored the bill.

"This is a bill that came to me as a request from a teacher in my district questioning why we would have a lot of focus going into pre-school as we have the last few years and not have kindergarten as mandatory," Heckroth says.

Emily Piper is a lobbyist for the Iowa Association of School Boards which opposes the change. "We prefer to focus on the other end in terms of keeping children in school longer…we think that parents are in the best position at that age to make a decision about whether or not they (kids) are ready to be in school," Piper says.

Konni Cawiezell with the Department of Education has mixed feelings about the bill. Cawiezell says, "I don’t know whether or not I can say that we’re 100% behind the compulsory age but we do believe they should be in kindergarten," Cawiezell says. She says their only concern is that it would cost the state more money.

Paul McKinley, a Republican from Chariton, says since most kids are already enrolled by that age, the bill is a solution in search of a problem. "It sounds like we have a lot of unanswered questions. I think we should defer until we get those answers," McKinley says. Heckroth said he agreed with that approach.

The Department of Education is analyzing data to determine how many five-year-olds aren’t enrolled in kindergarten already.  

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: Democratic Party, Legislature, Republican Party

Featured Stories

Congresswoman Axne favors Biden pandemic relief plan, Hinson not ruling out a ‘yes’

DOT plow crews struggling against blizzard conditions

Death penalty proposed for specific child murder cases

Iowa delegation breaks along party lines on Trump impeachment vote

Two northeast Iowa men admit to illegally harvesting ginseng

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

UNI adds two nonconference games to basketball schedule

Iowa State-Kansas postponed

Iowa-Michigan State postponed

Fire damage to Riverfront Stadium electrical system will cost Waterloo thousands

Iowa State at Kansas State postponed

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2021 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC