Kids Win, Sentinel Loses

The School Committee last approved the plan to create full-day kindergarten for every child in Fitchburg last night. This a big step forward for public education in Fitchburg.

The Sentinel, however, isn't so happy. We noted last week our view that the Sentinel was opposed to the plan, and that opposition was leaking into the news pages (standard declaration: Save Fitchburg used to write for the Sentinel). Our latest example: The lede to today's story.

The city's two kindergarten schools, South Fitchburg and Goodrich Kindergarten,
will close in June to pay for a larger full-day kindergarten program.

There's something to be said for news judgement and writing the news in a compelling fashion, but in today's case the Sentinel is either taking the approval poorly, or trying to drum up controversy.

Yes, two schools builidings close "to pay" not just for a "larger" program, but "to pay" for a program that gives every child in Fitchburg the best possible educational opportunity. The short term shuffling of classrooms (which won't harm class size) lead to the long-term guarantee of better schooling for hundreds of kids a year. Why is this a problem? It'll be different next year, but five years from now, no one will even remember it.

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We're still finalizing our poll questions and finding a (hopefully) nice and dependable poll system. Perhaps tomorrow.