Currently, it is not mandatory to send your child to kindergarten in Louisiana, but one Senator wants to change that to get more children enrolled in pre-K education. Baton Rouge Senator and Chairmen of the Senate Education Committee Cleo Fields has pre-filed legislation to make kindergarten a requirement.
“And that’s my push here to hopefully we can rally behind Senate Bill 10 get that passed and put more concentration on early childhood education in this state,” said Fields.
According to Louisiana’s Early Childhood and Education Commission, birth to five years of age is critical for brain development. Fields wants to aid educational outcomes for children as early as possible.
“The brain is fully developed, 90 percent developed rather, at age five, so we’ve got to get kids learning early so that they won’t be so far behind when they start first grade,” said Fields.
Fields said we need to concentrate on learning sooner so all children will have the advantage of pre-K and kindergarten education before, they walk into first grade. Fields said but first we must make kindergarten a requirement.
“Let’s make absolutely certain that every kid in Louisiana has a mandatory K-12, cause all over the country we talk about K-12, but it’s really one through twelve,” said Fields.
If the bill is approved children who turn age five on or before September 30th will be required to enroll in kindergarten.
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