The Choice Channel

“Public school. Private school — those were the two choices facing me 13 years ago on the eve of my daughter’s entrance into kindergarten. Prohibitive cost and constricted social milieu ruled out private school. An ill-fated meeting with public school officials left me appalled that birthdays, not ability, mandate when a child starts kindergarten in Tennessee. My daughter, certified gifted, and kindergarten ready in all respects (cognitively, emotionally, socially) would not be allowed to start school because her birthday fell in November, long after the September cutoff.” (03/26/08)