Pending law could allow certain children to start first grade at 5

A law awaiting Gov. Pat Quinn's signature could lower the first-grade age requirement to 5 from 6 years old for a select group of students next fall.

Stemming from a personal struggle to get his daughter placed in first grade because of age restrictions, the suburban lawmaker pushing the legislation calls the change practical.

But local school officials and child development experts fear it could cause a slew of problems.

"It's enhancing the pressure, the haves and the have nots," said Linda Dunlap, a nationally recognized expert on child development and chairwoman of Marist College's psychology department in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

"This relies heavily on the basis of who has money and who has not; who has the resources. I think we're going to be increasing the social divide."

The law was introduced last February by State Rep. Michael Fortner, a West Chicago Republican.

In 1998, Fortner said, he and his wife were trying to enroll their daughter, who had attended preschool and kindergarten in a private day care, in first grade in West Chicago Elementary District 33.

Under Illinois law, a child doesn't have to attend kindergarten in order to enter first grade, but public schools must offer kindergarten programs.

All first-graders must be at least 6 by Sept. 1 of the school year they enter. Yet public schools are not required to admit private kindergarten graduates to first grade if they are younger than 7.

Because his daughter had a late birthday, Fortner originally was told she was too young and had to be placed in public kindergarten, despite graduating from the day care's kindergarten earlier.

"It was a struggle," he said.

Years later, as a state legislator, Fortner wanted to help other families in a similar situation. The legislation passed the House and Senate in October and was sent to Quinn's desk Nov. 25.

If approved, it would change the school code and allow children from private kindergarten to enroll in first grade if they turn 6 by Dec. 31 of the academic year. provided they are determined to be first-grade ready by their local school district.

"This gives public schools authority in the school code to decide if students are ready (early)," Fortner said. "In Illinois, we really push preschool, we really want 3- to 5-year-olds to be ready for school."

Fortner pointed to the legislation's co-sponsors as evidence that the legislation won't cater only to wealthy families. The sponsors include Reps. Mary Flowers and Monique Davis, both whom represent some of Chicago's poorest areas.

"If you look at who co-sponsors the bill with me, some represent the poorest neighborhoods in the city of Chicago. If that was a charge, I wouldn't have gotten (their) support," Fortner said.

Research suggests school readiness is reliant on far more than the lessons taught in preschool and kindergarten.

A 2000 report by the National Center for Education examined statistics for 22,000 kindergartners across the country. While some of the youngest children were among the highest performing, achievement - the report found - also was tied to socioeconomic variables, including family income, whether a child comes from a two-parent home, and the level of his or her parent's education.

Along with gauging a child's academic skills, Fortner believes emotional readiness can be determined in school's assessments of private kindergarten graduates.

"I leave it to the judgment of the schools to consider all the factors," he said.

Educators find that task - particularly predicting social and emotional readiness for young students - more difficult to assess.

Deborah Christy, assistant director of Bridges Montessori Academy in St. Charles, believes a full school day can be much harder for younger-than-typical elementary students.

"They sometimes don't have as much concentration. They're expected to just sit and be still for longer. It's in those aspects where socially and emotionally you want to be with an age group you can relate to," she said. "That gap can grow as they get older into higher grades. It can be much more difficult. And then that starts to impede the academic process."

In recent years, Christy said, she has seen a small increase in the number of parents who want to enroll their children in the Bridges kindergarten program at an earlier age.

"Sometimes, if a child doesn't quite make the age cutoff (for another kindergarten program), parents call us about admission," she said. "That's very difficult for us, because we are not familiar with that child. It's not a snap decision."

Mount Prospect Elementary District 57 Superintendent Elaine Aumiller said it is "highly offensive" that the law would only provide the earlier start option to students who have attended private kindergarten programs.

Some private school parents, she said, could then push a child ahead, saving a year of private tuition and leaving public school to deal with kids who may fall behind both academically and emotionally.

In this economy, would many parents take advantage of that option?

Tony Sanders, spokesman for Elgin Area School District U-46, said it would be hard to know until next fall.

"There is no way of calculating how many people have returned to public schools as a result of the economy," he said. While enrollment did not increase dramatically for the 41,000-student district this year, some individual schools' enrollment grew substantially.

Like Christy, Aumiller also expressed concerns about the emotional ramifications for students starting school at a younger age.

"They may be more ready with their literacy skills and counting than the rest of the peer group, but I guarantee you it will catch up to them quickly," she said. "And then you face having to retain them because they're not exceeding performance of their like peers because emotionally and socially it aggravates over time."

Marist's Dunlap fears pushing students into a stressful academic environment at an early age will only backfire in the end, with young children viewing themselves as failures for not keeping up with older classmates.

"Why are we in such a rush to push them to grow up?" she asked. "They grow up so quickly after all."