Culture Mom Advocacy: Help Children Across the Nation By Tweeting Anderson Cooper

CNN’s Anderson Cooper is an outspoken defender of public schools and is a big proponent of education funding. He’ll be on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly and this coming Friday and wants us to send him tips about school costs, education prep, etc. For example, what are some of the ways you maintain your budget and still send your little ones fully equipped for school!? What are some training strategies, and lessons you’ve instilled about respect, honesty and safety?

Anderson will be directly involved before this Friday’s show doing outreach, taking questions and giving feedback. You will also be involved with the program when you participate as he may respond to your questions on live television. All you have to do is tweet @andersoncooper or @regis_and_kelly with your comments as soon as you can.

My own school district has proposed eliminating full day kindergarten for all children unless they can prove the need for additional instruction time. One school will retain full day kindergarten, regardless of need. This would reduce the school budget by $1.3 million.

This is very unfair because there are no neighboring school districts to us with half day kindergarten, and there are only a few districts in Westchester with this hybrid schedule of some half/some full days. By providing more funding and school hours to select schools, there is an intentionally inequitable distribution of public tax dollars, coupled with a restraint on the ability of schools to compensate for it.

My son will be attending public kindergarten next year, so obviously I am concerned. A half-day schedule is difficult for working parents as we have to deal with the cost of childcare. In addition, I feel that by kindergarten age, our kids require more than a few hours a day of education. They are ready to fly. We need to let them and the Board of Education needs to get on board.

Don’t forget to tweet Anderson Cooper or Regis & Kelly to join the cause that promotes the best education possible for our kids.