By Bill Zeeble, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-955792.mp3
Dallas, TX – Many educators believe pre-kindergarten programs are essential to helping disadvantaged children succeed in school. But state budget plans call for eliminating or dramatically reducing Pre-K funding, and many districts say they may only be able to offer the minimum program required by law. Fort Worth, for example, could lose $12 million state dollars, two-thirds of the funding for its Pre-K program. Bill Zeeble reports on what's at risk.
Pre-kindergarten teachers at Fort Worth's M. G. Ellis Primary school say a lot of people think what they provide is day care.
Melissa Abilez: It's not a daycare. They're actually learning a lot.
Veteran Pre-K teacher Melissa Abilez has taught 3 and 4 year olds for nearly a decade. As a child, she attended pre-k at Ellis.
State law requires that districts provide half a day of pre-k for at-risk 4 year olds. That includes the homeless, children from low income homes, or those with limited English skills. Fort Worth however has offered a full day pre-k classes to 3 and 4 year olds for 25 years. There's a good reason. Abilez says lessons learned include motor skills like holding and using a pencil or scissors, and eventually, reading and comprehension - the foundation for learning. She looks at a page of printed numbers and letters from one of her 4 year olds.
Abilez: So she can identify all 26 letters and also identify the sound that goes with it and knows a word that goes with it. That's a huge accomplishment. She came in with nothing and that's what she'll be leave pre-k with.
And children learn, say teachers, because it's fun. Even though there's only school Monday through Friday, parents tell teachers their pre-k kids strap on backpacks Saturday and Sunday mornings waiting for the bus, they're so eager for school. Pre-K teacher Anna Carrasco just celebrated the birthdate of Theodor Geissel. To the kid in all of us, that's Dr. Seuss.
Ann Carrasco: But we read Dr Seuss. We worked on writing rhyming words, we did it in English. We did it in Spanish. We clapped syllables of his nonsensical words. You can see all those things we do are pre-requisites for reading. Which lead then to writing. So yes it's fun but it had that plan and it had that purpose.
That groundwork of reading helps set up the future for these kids, according to Jill Allor, teaching and learning expert at SMU's Simmons School.
Allor: Statistics are very clear that if you do not learn to read fairly well by the end of first grade - that you're very likely to never catch up. When you cannot keep up, that impacts how you approach learning. Learning becomes negative and defeating and you quit trying, eventually.
Doing away with part of pre-k is what worries these teachers. With 216 pre-k students - that's nearly half the school - Ellis boasts Fort Worth's largest pre-k program, serving 3 and 4 year olds. The district might slice the full day pre-k to half-days to save money. But that could burden working parents like Leanna Moreno.
Moreno: Because it would be hard for me to get off work to pick him up in time.
District trustees discussed charging parents for the other half day, but some call that unrealistic for these poor families. Yet, Fort Worth School Board Vice President Juan Rangel says it's hard-ball time, the budget's tight.
Juan Rangel: I would like to enhance the program. I think we all know how important it is. But, seeing that we're looking at a tremendous cut in our funding streams, what would it look like if we closed Ellis?
Pre-k teachers, like Autumn Reed, say it's time Austin lawmakers dipped into some of the reserve funds, even though Governor Perry wants it untouched.
Autum Reed: If there's a rainy day fund and we're talking about our future leaders, then how come we won't invest in our future leaders?
Pre-k teachers at M.G. Ellis say they've been instructed to close the achievement gap among minority students. Cuts to pre-k they add, will make it that much harder to do that.
Some 4,300 children are enrolled in Fort Worth's Pre-K program.