During a meeting on Wednesday, the Hollidaysburg Area School District gathered to decide if a permanent substitute teacher position for kindergarten should be approved at the Foot of Ten Elementary School.
After a vote of 4 to 1 that position was denied and Lois Kaneshiki, the board member who voted ‘no,’ is receiving a lot of backlash for her decision.
Kaneshiki associated kindergarten teachers and babysitters at the meeting but told WTAJ she was simply referring to how some parents may view the young classes.
“Sometimes kindergartens are just babysitting for parents and I think that’s true in some respects, in some cases. I didn’t equate kindergarten teachers to babysitters because kindergarten teachers are trained professionals,” Kaneshiki said.
The school board member said she respects lower level teachers but approving a permanent sub position for K-classes isn’t worthy of taxpayer money.
She added that early learning doesn’t compare to higher grade levels.
“People don’t really expect their kindergarten children to come away and they’re going to have that high academic achievement in kindergarten, they’re five years old….that’s just a fact,” Kaneshiki said.
She said she focuses primarily on academic achievement, not child management, and extra help for teachers wouldn’t actually boost the learning environment.
Kaneshiki said that issue didn’t even come up in deliberation.
“No one ever came to me and said ‘We need this to manage our children better and we need this because it’s going to make our teachers’ lives better,'” Kaneshiki said.
She said she relied on heavily on research from the Home School Legal Defense Association, which issued a report stating that putting resources towards early learning isn’t as beneficial as contributing to higher levels of institutional learning.
According to its website, the organizations specifically refers to itself as an advocate for homeschooling.
Kaneshiki said for those who disagree with her vote “they need to look at their data a little bit more closely…If people want that kindergarten teacher, they can come and donate money for it.”
