That's right Ellen, take as much credit as you can for the pre-school program while you give no credit to the long serving principals that have been working faithfully and tirelessly for years in the district. All started out as teachers here in Mountain View and even live amongst us in the community. Any fault you have fabricated against them lies ultimately at your feet for your inability to find a true, compassionate and caring leader.

I cannot wait to vote you and the rest off the board.

On the issue of funding preschool, Trustee Ellen Wheeler has been a champion for years, and I applaud her and Terri Wallace for this essential step towards eliminating the effects of poverty in MV's schools.

At a time when many other districts are eliminating preschool/TK as a non-mandated expense, it's wonderful MVWSD is looking at the long term.

Observe any kindergarten and you see the large achievement gap. Full day preschool is the best way for working families to gain access to the benefits of high quality preschool. If the pilot is successful, it would be a great service for all MV families to see affordable preschool expanded to help middle-class families as well.

It was never effective that we spend more later in when it's cheaper to provide enrichments and interventions earlier in a child's life. On that note, I hope the high school district will one day share its extra resources with MVWSD, since high school efforts to reduce their achievement gap would be all the more successful if there were no achievement gap among the students entering high school.

Research on the benefit of preschool:
White House Study:
Web Link

Other Economic Studies:
Web Link

One can have reservations on how MVWSD handled its recent staffing issues, all the while take a moment to celebrate this progressive step. Bravo MVWSD!

Where did they get that 1150-1650 figure from?

Would LOVE TO see more affordable preschool around here, seems like everything is at least 2K!

Ellen Wheeler for as long as I’ve sat through board meeting and at different events has done us all a disservice by not listening to parents,teacher and the public. She loves to hear herself talk. Extremely counterproductive.

@preschool parent - The Wonder Years is $1600, Children's Learning Cottage is $1565, Tiny Einstein is $2045.

I totally agree that Ellen Wheeler, as a trustee over the last 8 or 9 years, has really and effectively rallied behind PK in MVWSD. As a former Headstart volunteer in West Berkeley, and from the many studies that I've also read (not a 1/10 of those that Wheeler has read) I know that such programs - when done with the measured Quality of MVWSD's can make an academic difference lasting the first 3 years of public schooling.

This care needs to continue, with weekend and summer academic opportunities for TARGET students (LCFF) continuously at least through 3rd grade. Otherwise, numerous studies throughout the decades show It Makes NO DIFFERENCE! Berkeley USD as well as MVWSD continue to show up as WORST 20 in the national database of ACADEMIC GAPS for minority students. (Reardon, Stanford University 2009-2013 data).

Chris Chiang - every day in every way we are getting better and better! But such a Long Way to GO!

Latest round of School Accountability Report Cards - state average 37% of budgets to teachers employment, MVWSD is only using 31% of its budget for teacher employment. Page 8 of the link below. Employ More Teachers for these Target Students and Less Consultants (MVWSD has had a much higher than state average % of budget to consultants over the last several years) Ask your Trustees why? (This proceeded Dr. Rudolph, but has not been addressed, as those reading this must know!)

Web Link

Pre-school is differenr from daycare in that _____. Hey, if the parents work, or can't be found, why not have the public pay for daycare and why stop there? Money is no object. Just print more money.

Saving money is exactly why high quality preschool is important. We end up spending so much more on intervention. Our desire to save money by skimping on at-risk children mean we spend more when they are older, then ever more in added prisons and lower lifetime tax revenue.

A Nobel Prize winning Economist says public preschool programs should start at birth:
Web Link

This sounds naive, but see the Harlem Children Zone where schools are involved with at risk families the moment parents are pregnant: Web Link

Yes, we don't have the upfront funds to be the Harlem Children Zone, I wish (even if there's a larger social return), so preschool is a start. And, it wouldn't cost much to also partner with hospitals to bridge the gap and offer more services to early children in the form of free early learning disability diagnostics, prenatal and early parent education, and even free quality children books. MVWSD already leads in parent education for older families, it's return will be even greater with any supports it can give to early childhood.

"Observe any kindergarten and you see the large achievement gap."

Problem is by third grade there is no measurable difference between those who did pre-school and those who did not. It is an expensive boondoggle that gets no results-perfect for the MvW-Whisman school district to waste money on.

Without followup with Headstart and other LCFF TARGET students between K and 1st, between 1st and 2nd, and between 2nd and 3rd ... the research studies appear to show that there is no lasting benefit (as Chaing knows). So "turnaround school" funding as Chiang proposed, and was implemented is needed. But is Wheeler supporting targeted academics for all the K-3rd grade students that need it during the summer? These are formally called TARGET students in the LCFF and the LCAP.

Wealthy parent-ELL students, who are already AT or ABOVE academic standards, are not the big problem in public education. 2009-2013 MVWSD's "one of the 20 largest in the country White - Hispanic achievement gaps" is the problem in MVWSD (Stanford Professor Reardon's latest research update).

The MVWSD Budget - is not following through on those LCFF promises, 20% more for those poor student's education, and so any PK advance, is going to be undone, any PK advance, is lost by 3rd grade.

SUMMER MATTERS is the call of the program by the State of California PTA and Department of Education. MVWSD leaders should listen. The most academically successful are full-on, full press academic programs.
Web Link PTA
Web Link Calif. Library Association
Web Link site visits
Web Link Packard Foundation

The failure of Head Start to show any long term benefits is a poorly kept secret.

All day taxpayer funded preschool is an expensive act of virtue signalling.

@Long Gone Yes, by itself, in isolation both HeadStart and public PK for low income families is, after no follow-up 3rd grade, just 'a signaling valuable' in microeconomics terms. (as far as I understand their terminology).

"Signaling variables" seem to come up in educational economics research as just - GOOD INTENTIONS RECOGNIZED, but no real change. One of the most pervasive is passage of SCHOOL FACILITIES BONDS, which signal- this community cares about public education. Residential property values Improve, with increased property tax passage (real counter intuitive result!). But no statistically significant Academic Improvement follows. (this was a multi-decade study of California school bond elections and districts passing/not passing facilities bonds)

@Long Gone- since you have been Gone So Long, maybe you don't understand the 20% LCFF Supplemental Grant spending responsibility for TARGET STUDENTS. If, as Chiang mentioned, this 20% is indeed targeted By the SCHOOL BOARD's PUBLIC POLICY, to K-3rd grade poor student's extra academic education, it is possible that there will not be so many "wasted minds" of Hispanic students in the MVWSD. Do Not Wait for Middle Schoo

Neither Chris nor I (especially) have been quite the public fame and impact of LA teacher profiled in "Stand And Deliver". But, that is definitely what we transpired to achieve by our service as teachers and then trustees of MVWSD.

MVWSD PK is a high class academic program, that is only going to be effective coupled to K-3rd rigorous ACADEMIC followup. That means - get us out of that damn Reardon 20-worst Academic Gap data plot !!!