Why do many kids repeat kindergarten?

Jennifer White — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 21:30:00 +0000

One in every nine kids in Michigan public schools repeated kindergarten, according to Michigan Department of Education data for the year 2010-11. That means the state pays an additional $7,000 per child every year, ultimately costing taxpayers $93 million.

Ron French, senior writer with Bridge Magazine has been investigating this story and found that the likelihood of a child repeating kindergarten was most closely linked, not to race or family income, but geography. In the article, he also writes about “planned retention," meaning parents actually plan to have a child do two years of kindergarten instead of one.

Nearly 40% of Michigan kids miss out on pre-k

Jennifer White and Mercedes Mejia — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 21:02:17 +0000

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that nearly 1 in 4 kids in Michigan lives in poverty. For a family of four that means living on $23,000, or less per year.