Thursday, August 6, 2009

Slowly yet surely, Florida's voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) program has attained a milestone.

It turns 4 years old this fall. The celebration of that unusual-numbered year comes because the first VPK class would be entering third grade and subject to standardized testing as part of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).

Those results ought to be telling, providing an education in themselves, while periodic indexing of preschoolers' fundamental skill levels goes on.

The VPK program, approved by voters in 2002, got off to a rocky start. Voters who expected the program to be under the auspices of established public schools were caught off guard when established pre-Ks and day cares were enlisted.

Questioning of the length of the program for each child and the number of hours and school days and the budgets and certification required for instructors is a work in progress.

With educators around the world agreeing that children's minds are most receptive to learning at the earliest possible years, Florida's VPK program heads in the right direction. Continued scrutiny and even debate of the details, and the results, are warranted and welcome.

The bottom line question is this: Is Florida better off for what voters approved in 2002? We have to say yes. If nothing else, children from families who could not afford it get a modicum of pre-K prep.

This time next year we hope to have something measurable to go along with that gut feeling.

-- Naples Daily News