In its first year, all-day kindergarten a big hit
In the first year that Minnesota offered free all-day kindergarten statewide, 57,714 students enrolled.
Before this year, 54 percent of students had access to all-day kindergarten. In some school districts, parents had to pay as much as $4,000 a year for the option.
The enrollment exceeded the state's estimates by 3,500 students.
That shows that families want the all-day option, said Brenda Cassellius, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education.
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"School districts knew that but they didn't have the resources to do it," she said. "This is just a wonderful piece that we really think is really going to be a game changer for us in closing the achievement gap."
Cassellius hopes all-day kindergarten will improve test scores for students of color and low-income students as they progress to later grades. She said it gives teachers more time to work with students.
"It's just a really well-rounded program throughout the day rather than trying to squeeze everything into just a few hours," she said.
State lawmakers approved $134 million to fund all-day kindergarten in 2013. This session, Gov. Mark Dayton is asking lawmakers for $347 million to fund free all-day preschool for all of the state's four-year olds.