An under-examined aspect of President Obama’s new early
childhood education plan is his proposal to encourage states to
create more full-day kindergarten seats – though only after
states are able to guarantee access to pre-K for all 4-year olds
from low and moderate-income families. At Early Ed Watch, we
believe full-day kindergarten should be more than just a second-
fiddle issue. High-quality kindergarten is key to retaining and
building upon the advances made in preschool, and even more
crucial for those children who were not enrolled in a quality
pre-K program. Currently, most states do not require school
districts to provide full-day kindergarten. Moreover, states do
not necessarily fund kindergarten at the same levels as grades
1-12, providing little incentive for districts to offer a full-
day program. Some districts manage to do so by covering the cost
on their own, or by charging families for the additional half
day. So while the president stated that only about six out of 10
kindergartners have access