Gov. Brian Schweitzer made up for that Friday with a visit to Franklin Elementary School. The visit was also heartening for Sen. Carol Williams, D-Missoula. Williams led the campaign for all-day kindergarten in the 2007 Legislature, but the bill was lost in the end-of-session budget collapse. It was resurrected and passed in a subsequent special session.
“I really believe this is the most important thing the Legislature did this session,” Williams said. “I've been working on this for 34 years.”
“I know you - I've seen you with your horse in my TV,” 5-year-old Christian Mendenhall hollered when Schweitzer joined the reading group in Cathy Poor's kindergarten room.
“Looks like he's seen the commercials,” Schweitzer said before reading the class a story.
The change is already showing benefits, according to Franklin Elementary Principal Mike Williams. As teacher Tiffany Hobbs' kindergartners called off their ABC's, Williams was charting their pre-reading skills.
“That's 26 letters and sounds down in three weeks,” Williams said. “We couldn't have been that far at this point in the year with half-day classes. We wouldn't have been close.”
Schweitzer said the effort would pay off for Montanans in the long run by shrinking the number of students who can't make it through high school. Since the startup money's approval, 182 school districts and 87 percent of the state's kindergartners have switched to full-day classes.
“The research shows if you're behind in first grade, you don't ever catch up,” Schweitzer said. “And 19 out of 20 parents have decided they like it.”
Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at rchaney@missoulian.com.
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