Improve DHHS or Expand Non-Educational Kinderfgarten?

Why, oh why, is this town being asked to approve a Budget with a big increase for kindergarten when it is the high school that so clearly needs improvement?

Parents of DHHS students, are you satisfied that Daniel Hand High School is ranked 18th in the state by US News? Do you know that DHHS is thus ranked #10 out of 19 high schools in our DRG (the group of school districts most like Madison), and that the math results for the DHHS 10th graders rank #14 out of those 19 DRG schools? Is that what you expect from Madison's school system? I hope not. Madison's students in the K-4 category rank quite favorably with their peers in the DRG.

The Superintendent, when describing the purpose of expanding to all day kindergarten, stated that the additional time does not add to the educational program. So why spend money on it? Isn't the purpose of a school system to educate? I was excited when Mr. Scarice became the new Superintendant because he came from the Weston School District, where students seem to perform better and better as they progress through the system, and Westons' SAT scores are well above those of Madison's students. I thought he would bring that focus to Madison. I still hope he will focus on improving performance at the High School. Maybe he just needs to hear from parents who are really concerned about their kids being able to get into top tier colleges and achieving their academic and career dreams.

Should the Education Budget be spending on a non-educational extra half day of kindergarten -- or should it be taking measures to improve the knowledge and academic performance of our High School students? The die will be cast for many years when you vote on May 14th.