EDITORIAL
Preschool is needed with later kindergarten

Flexibility, rather than arbitrary age rules, should be the order of the day as lawmakers consider hiking the admission age for public kindergartens.

A bill moving at the Legislature would require children to reach their 5th birthday before school starts to be eligible for kindergarten. Today, children must only be 5 by the end of the year to qualify to start.

The result has been a number of entering 4-year-olds who really aren't ready to begin learning. This sets them up for being categorized as learning-disabled when, in fact, their only problem is they are not mature enough to begin school.

Some supporters of this bill see it as both a guarantee that all entering kindergartners will be mature enough to begin learning and also as a money-saver. If saving money is the ultimate goal, this bill should be dropped immediately.

In truth, the work of dealing with the wide range of capacities of young 4- and 5-year-olds is complex and will probably cost more, rather than less, to accomplish properly.

It makes sense to raise the entry age for kindergarten to 5 only if:

• Some form of readiness testing is available for those youngsters who are close to the cutoff point and whose parents believe their child is ready for kindergarten. That idea has been floated by Senate Education Chairman Norman Sakamoto.
• There is widely available quality preschool care for those youngsters who are not ready for kindergarten. Affluent families and those fortunate enough to have access to quality preschool through programs such as those operated by the Kamehameha Schools can feel comfortable that their children will not "lose" a year by starting later.

But many others cannot afford, or do not have access to, any kind of reasonable pre-school. Before the state raises the bar for kindergarten, it must ensure that alternatives exist.

The most likely route is the emerging Pre-Plus program, a public-private initiative designed to make sure children from lower-income families get into quality early education programs.

Once Hawai'i can boast of universal preschool for its youngsters, it can move ahead on a more rigorous winnowing process for kindergarten. To do so before universal preschool is available will simply leave some children, perhaps permanently, behind.