Madison, Wis. – Today the Foundation for Madison’s Public Schools released the following statement after the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) Board of Education approved a motion to provide an increase of $1,300,000 to both 2021-22 elementary and Early Childhood Program staffing budgets and non-personnel budget.
Melinda Heinritz, Executive Director of the Foundation and its affiliate, Schools Make Madison Advocates:
“The district is delivering on their promise to our community with this historic action that will enable the launch of a pilot to evaluate the effectiveness of the district’s first full-day 4K program. Full day-4K was a critical element of the successful fall referenda and is an essential component of the district’s equity strategy. We look forward to our continued partnership with MMSD as they work to implement this pilot program.”
MMSD currently offers partial-day 4K at 26 elementary schools and 27 Early Care and Education (ECE) sites. Thanks to an overwhelming passing of the operating referenda on November 3rd, 2020, MMSD is now able to offer pilot programs for full-day 4K at Leopold, Mendota, and Sandburg Elementary schools. The Foundation for Madison’s Public Schools advocacy arm, Schools Make Madison Advocates, was proud to lead the Vote Yes 2 Invest campaign that championed the passing of both the operating and facilities referenda.
A significant body of research suggests that early learning opportunities for young children can impact their developmental trajectory throughout their life, as well as have a positive impact on families, communities and society. Research also indicates that providing full day 4K programming will increase academic gains to close achievement gaps for our most vulnerable student populations.Schools selected for the pilot were based on need and those who have systems in place that would support successful testing of a full-day 4K pilot. Leopold and Mendota are Community Schools (schools that offer a range of services in addition to educational services) and Sandburg offers bilingual programming for native Spanish speaking families.
Read more about MMSD plans for the full-day pilot.
For more on the Foundation for Madison’s Public Schools: SchoolsMakeMadison.org
