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LANSING, Mich. – Proposed legislation that would require children be 5 years of age by Sept. 1 before entering in kindergarten would bring Michigan more in line with the rest of the country, according to the Detroit Free Press. Nearly 40 states have cutoff dates earlier than October. Michigan’s current deadline is Dec. 1.
The Senate Fiscal Agency reports that the state would save $150 million in school funding by the third year as the program is phased in, moving the deadline up one month each year, the Free Press reported.
“I believe, in the long run, our children will be better off because of it,” Sen. Darwin Booher, R-Evart, who sponsored the legislation, told the Free Press.
SOURCE: Detroit Free Press, “Push to raise Michigan’s kindergarten start age gains steam as curriculum gets harder” May 20, 2012
FURTHER READING: Mackinac Center for Public Policy, “Carnac Predicts: Schools will try to enroll kids who are too young,” May 7, 2012
MichiganVotes.org, “Senate Bill 315: Require kindergartners be 5 on Sept. 1”
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