Looming cut to kindergarten grants alarming

http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150613/NEWS/150617855

Looming cut to kindergarten grants alarming

A drastic cut in funding proposed for the state grants that enrich full-day kindergarten has imperiled jobs in some local school districts.

Districts in MetroWest and the Milford-area that have applied for the grants in the past mostly needed the money to help to pay for support staff and training. School officials say they worry that the cut, if it remains in place, could prove a setback for the strides that the state has already made in improving early childhood education.

As of last week, the Senate and House budget proposals for next fiscal year differ dramatically concerning the money allocated to the state’s Kindergarten Expansion Grants.

The Senate’s $38.1 billion budget, passed May 22, would fund the grants at $1 million in fiscal 2016, translating to a "painful" $17.6 million cut for the more than 100 communities and school districts that rely on the grants to supplement their full-day kindergarten programs, according to the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

-