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Legislature passes 5k attendance bill
Posted: 9/22/2009 2:37:21 PM
The Senate on Tuesday gave final legislative approval to a bill that makes school attendance mandatory for children whose parents choose to enroll them in 5-year-old kindergarten.
The vote was 17-15, along party lines, with all Democratic senators voting in favor (Democratic Senator Julie Lassa of Stevens Point was absent). Last week, the Assembly passed the bill on a bipartisan 53-44 vote. The measure now awaits the governor's signature.
The current law that states school districts must offer kindergarten, but does not require attendance at age 5, remains unchanged. However, under the bill, once parents enroll their children in kindergarten, attendance is mandatory.
The legislation makes kindergarten a prerequisite for admission to first grade. However, if parents choose not to enroll their children in kindergarten, local school boards are empowered to develop common sense exemptions for admission into first grade.
The 5k attendance bill is a 2009-10 WEAC Legislative Agenda item, and WEAC members worked hard to support passage of the bill.
“The kindergarten learning experience with its academic rigor and social skills development is an essential building block for a child’s success in school,” said WEAC President Mary Bell. “Attending kindergarten regularly establishes the importance of education and sets a pattern for attendance in future school years.
“Educators find that children who participate in kindergarten are much more likely to be prepared for the challenges of first grade.”
If the bill is signed into law by the governor, Wisconsin will join the growing list of states that require kindergarten attendance.
The bill was championed first by kindergarten teachers and other early childhood educators across the state, including Michelle Frola, a kindergarten teacher for nearly 20 years in the Iola-Scandanavia School District.
“One year I had one child miss 45 days, that’s an entire quarter of the year,” she said, adding that under current law she was required to pass the student onto first grade, even without the skills that child needed to succeed.
Last spring, several WEAC members including Kenosha kindergarten teacher Anne Knapp testified in favor of the bill.
"Those students who show up for first grade with no prior school experience are likely to have missed essential opportunities to develop necessary skills, competencies and interests in a supportive classroom environment," Knapp told the Assembly Education Committee.