Parents should be able to walk into any school to enroll their child for pre‑K, declared mayoral candidate Justin Elicker as he released the first of 75 promised “fresh solutions” for the city.
Elicker, one of seven candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor in a Sept. 10 primary, floated the idea Wednesday at a press conference outside Wilbur Cross High. He pledged to offer 75 solutions to fix the city in 75 days.
This first week, Elicker is focusing on solutions related to schools.
He called for breaking down the barriers that make it hard for parents to navigate the pre‑K admissions process. Right now, parents have to go to one building (54 Meadow St.) to enroll kids in magnet pre‑K, and an entirely different building (80 Hamilton St.) to enroll in other early childhood programs, Head Start and school readiness.
The system is “convenient for the bureaucracy, and not for the customer,” Elicker said.
He called for a “no wrong door” policy by which parents could walk into any school in the district and begin the process for enrolling their child in pre‑K. Even if they can’t enroll their child in pre‑K at that moment, parents should be able to set up an appointment through the school, Elicker said.
The proposal would help low-income parents get in the door at a crucial time in their kids’ lives, Elicker argued. Research shows that by kindergarten, low-income kids already lag way behind their middle-class peers, both in terms of the number of words they’ve been exposed to, and their ability to develop executive function in their brain, which helps with self-control and decision-making. Elicker said creating easier access to early childhood education is essential to reach the city’s most vulnerable kids.
Elicker noted that President Obama’s “Preschool for All” proposal calls for a $75 billion investment in pre‑K over the next decade. He said New Haven should make sure it has the space in schools to accommodate extra pre‑K seats.
Elicker’s remarks hit on enrollment issues a group of New Haven parents have been tackling for the past few years. In response to parents’ complaints about a frustrating and labyrinthine admission process, the school district no longer makes parents stake out 54 Meadow for hours to enroll their kids. The district has introduced more transparent, public lotteries and clearer waiting lists. It plans to combine two school lotteries — for magnet and neighborhood schools — next spring.
Elicker said he plans to release six or seven solutions about education this week. Others will be about character education, the school board, and parental choice.
He said the proposals aim to tackle high dropout rates and absenteeism in schools that the city’s school reform drive has only begun to address.
“Confidence in the school system is low,” he said.
He said he chose Wilbur Cross for the press event because of the challenges the school faces: A “high dropout rate, high absenteeism,” and a “historically contentious relationship between the administration and students.”
Cross “desperately needs stable administration that is inspiring,” Elicker said.
The school is getting a new principal in July.
Elicker’s remarks represented a sneak peek at the proposals he plans to release this week.
His first official solution posted on his website was more vague: to “listen, learn, and bring best practices” from other cities to New Haven.
Elicker plans to post upcoming solutions on his campaign website.
This is great! I'm really excited to see what Elicker has for us when he starts rolling out the concrete proposals. What's up now is a fairly impressive start.
It's nice to have a candidate who focuses on policies rather than attacks and whatnot. How long has Fernandez been in this election now? Three months? He still hasn't published a platform, just a bunch of attacks on Harp!
Leaning more and more toward Elicker...Gary better have something pretty impressive up his sleeve!
--SPG