7K for kindergarten

[nuttylawprofessor]

We paid several thousand for full-day kindergarten in a public school. It was far less than private school tuition or daycare. That said, I always find stories like this absolutely infuriating. We need fully-funded public education.

 

[Bearshouse]

We live in a rural county. We pay $160 a month for the all-day kindergarten option. But the half day is still free. Although the average income is right around 30k annually. We chose all day because DD turned 6 on the 2nd day of kindergarten, because of the cut-off date.

Bearshouse

 

[fakereadhed]

Isn't it a bit ironic that 7k for public school seems like so much, but the actual cost per pupil for public school is over 10k??? We're all paying for that, and not getting what we pay for, IMO.


http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372

 

[luvmy3]

I wouldn't pay that, K in our district isn't worth it. It was like repeating Pre-school for my kids.

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

I had no idea I lived in such a bubble! I knew that neighboring towns offered half-day kindergarten but this is the first I've heard of any propositions for having to pay for public school. I've lived in NJ essentially all my life and had no idea Kindergarten wasn't mandatory... and as my oldest in in 1st grade you'd think I'd know these things...

OP, come on down to Monmouth County! Our town offers free full-day Kindergarten and our neighboring towns have a mix of full-day and half-day. At least the ones I know about - but now I'm wondering what else I don't know!

I have got to read the newspaper more or something...

 

[DisneyMomma81]

....That means the school district can legally charge for kindergarten. It isn't required here, either - our compulsory age is 7. My DD in 1st grade won't turn 7 until next month. So legally, I didn't have to send her to school at all until NEXT YEAR! Obviously, we sent her when she turned 5, though! It stinks, but until the laws get changed to lower the compulsory age, there isn't a whole lot we can do about it.

My DD *a 2nd grader now* didn't turn 7 till the summer after her year of 1st grade, *her B-day is 7/3* so if our SD had 7 as a compulsory age this year would/could be her 1st year! Crazy!! She did 1 year of Pre K, 1/2 day K *I looked for all day K ~ I work Mon-Fri 9am-3pm - it was OK though, she had a ride every day to her great grandma's house and spent the afternoon with her ~ Thanks Gramma!

 

[leadfootlevi]

We pay $1020 for full-day, 3-days per week Kindergarten. For full-day, 5-days per week it would be $2040. This is at a private school. It seems like, based on this thread, that we are getting a bargain!

 

[Colleen27]

That is a lot! Considerably more than the private schools in my area, so there's no way I'd be paying it for public. I'm a SAHM anyway so I'd just homeschool K rather than paying high tuition for an "optional" (legally speaking) year.

 

[chellewashere]

I live in Bucks, PA and my DD will start full day K this year. I called about pre-K last year since I knew it was offered through the public school and I was told we didnt qualify. Didnt realize it was based on income. If they decided to change it and make it where we had to pay she would not be going there. Im not thrilled with the school district to begin with at all. I would do that online line class which I have check into already and it is available in PA. I want her to go to K to get aquainted with playing with other kids. There really arent any children in my neighborhood that are her age, we dont belong to any mommy and me classes and her older siblings are 14 and 16 years older so not alot of playing going on there either. So basically the only reason I want her to go is for socialization.

 

[disney*mom*82]

Wow, that is crazy! We currently pay about $80 per year for school, all grades until 10th, that only goes up a little due to drivers ed. DH and I are both teachers, but niether teach in the district our children go to school at and it is all the same. I didnt read all the responses you have, but I can say I understand wanting your child to go to school. My first DDs b-day is Dec 2 and she too is one of the oldest in her class ad was ready for school a year or so prior. Some things Ide look into now and not wait until this is a sure deal...

1. How much would private kindergarten be?
2. Is homeschooling possible?
3. If you cant homeschool yourself, is there someone in our area that would be interested in doing so?

GL to you and hopefuly you find a solution that works for your family.

 

[SILLYANDI]

We pay $1020 for full-day, 3-days per week Kindergarten. For full-day, 5-days per week it would be $2040. This is at a private school. It seems like, based on this thread, that we are getting a bargain!

A Year? or per month?

 

[diamondpixienc]

I am so sorry to hear that you will now have to pay for a public eduction? I thought it was a right to any and every tax paying citizen. I was obviously wrong. I hope something positive work out for you.

 

[patsal]

I am so sorry to hear that you will now have to pay for a public eduction? I thought it was a right to any and every tax paying citizen. I was obviously wrong. I hope something positive work out for you.

Yes, a free, public education is the right of all Americans. However, Kindergarten is not a mandated program. Many schools are not mandated to provide education to anyone under 7 years old. Just like one ages out at 21 from a high school, there are provisions on the other end as well.

As things get tighter and funding disappears there will be a lot of non-mandated programs going away over the next few years.

 

[luvdisney00]

Wow! I haven't heard anything like that and I live in NJ and work in a public school, but there are a lot of different ideas on the table to try and meet next years budget and none of them are very popular. My town still has 1/2 day K and as far as I know no option to pay for full day, but now that you bring it up, I'm surprised no one has proposed it in our district. I can see the idea of paying for K since it is not a requirement, but $7,000 is kind of crazy. Is Catholic school an option for you? Around here Catholic school is about $4500 for K.

Public education is a mess right now in NJ.

 

[Abbeys_mom]

Ah, but see it's not the community's job to provide childcare so that the parents can both work. An education, yes. Childcare, no. One could argue that if parents want their kids in an all day program so that they are free to work, then they should be willing to pay for it.

Just playing devil's advocate here. It is the same argument you will get at the budget meetings from child-free couples and those who send their children to private schools. And since kindergarten only affects a small portion of the overall school population, you're not likely to find a lot of support from those families with older children either.

We spend well over $7k per year for full day kindy at a private school. We have the means, we made that choice, I am not complaining about that. The quality of education far surpasses our public SD.

HOWEVER, DD had an IEP through the county for delayed speech. We drove her to speech therapy until she entered kindy. Then, we were told that even though it is necessary for her, we have to pay out of pocket for it to continue. If she were in the full day program at the local public school, the school district would pay for it.

So, not only do we pay property taxes since we own our home, we also pay tuition AND for a private speech therapist. The part that kills me is that we pay the same taxes, and if we chose public school, her therapy would be offered at no charge. UGH.

 

[taitai]

I live in Minnesota. Half-day kindergarten is free and available to all. However, you must pay for full day. It is about $4000/year. Sadly, there is no multiples discount so last year we paid over $8K for our two.

 

[tinker&belle]

When our district started to offer full day K, they offered it as a lottery that you could pay for (it is currently 1300 extra.) When it was so popular with working parents they stopped offering half day and only offer full day with the option to leave in the middle. I think that is unacceptable.

I don't like that the choice is pay up or miss half of the day with your peer group. If it doesn't change before DD gets to K we will do it, but I don't like it.

 

[Leajess99]

So, our school district is having a difficult budgetary year and one of the proposals is to change the currently free full day kindergarten to having the parents pay $7,000 for kindergarten. As you can imagine, a lot of parents are upset (including us), and not sure how we will pay for it. It's been tough to pay $3,000 for preschool and I was relieved to be leaving that payment behind soon! This is still a preliminary proposal, no info on how children who qualify for free and reduced lunch (not a large number are eligible anyway) or with special needs would be handled. My daughter wouldn't qualify on either count anyway. I was wondering if anyone else pays for public kindergarten and if this is a typical amount?

Honestly, if they were to require that than I would be looking at homeschool or virtual academy options. I think it is ridiculous to pay that much for public kindergarten.

 

[MrsPete]

Schools are in big financial trouble these days. We've always operated on a shoestring budget, and things are getting worse. Classroom numbers are up. Supply budgets are down. Things that aren't absolutely manadatory are disappearing -- things that ARE necessary are disappearing.

No one's saying, "Hey, let's cut kindergarten just to be mean!"

Rather, school systems are saying, "Something has to go. Should we put 35 kids in the 4th grade class? Close the school library three days a week? Cut out AP classes for our best and brightest? Cut remediation services for the slower kids? Get rid of vocational classes that prepare non-college bound students for the work world? Or maybe cut football, although it pays for all the other sports in high school?" Of course, I'm making up these examples, but I guarantee they're the kind of choices principals are forced to make.

Add in that EVERY CUT upsets SOMEONE. Every cut will bring parental complaints. Some cuts will bring the threat of lawsuits.

Yeah, it's awful, but I can see why they want to start with non-mandatory programs.

 

[luvmy3]

Schools are in big financial trouble these days. We've always operated on a shoestring budget, and things are getting worse. Classroom numbers are up. Supply budgets are down. Things that aren't absolutely manadatory are disappearing -- things that ARE necessary are disappearing.

No one's saying, "Hey, let's cut kindergarten just to be mean!"

Rather, school systems are saying, "Something has to go. Should we put 35 kids in the 4th grade class? Close the school library three days a week? Cut out AP classes for our best and brightest? Cut remediation services for the slower kids? Get rid of vocational classes that prepare non-college bound students for the work world? Or maybe cut football, although it pays for all the other sports in high school?" Of course, I'm making up these examples, but I guarantee they're the kind of choices principals are forced to make.

Add in that EVERY CUT upsets SOMEONE. Every cut will bring parental complaints. Some cuts will bring the threat of lawsuits.

Yeah, it's awful, but I can see why they want to start with non-mandatory programs.