Without taking any action, yesterday the House Education Committee forwarded a bill making kindergarten mandatory to the House Appropriations Committee to consider its possible $12 million price tag.
The bill, Senate Bill 10, would require children turning 5 by September 30th of a calendar year to attend kindergarten. Present law does not mandate kindergarten attendance. A child in Louisiana is not required to start attending school until age 7.
Rep. Mark Wright of Covington presided over the committee hearing because Speaker of the House Rep. Clay Schexnayder asked House Committee Chairman Rep. Ray Garofalo to step aside as chairman for the remainder of the legislative session after his proposed legislation to ban the teaching of critical race theory came out.
Previous opposition came from lawmakers like Sen. Beth Mizell of Franklinton, who stated that some children may not be ready for a structured day in kindergarten. The bill was amended in a Senate committee to allow kindergarten home schooling as long as the child is enrolled in a home-schooling program or a nonpublic school by age 5.
The bill passed the full Senate last week with only one vote in opposition.
