Cheers: To all-day kindergarten. In 2007, the state Legislature required all public schools to offer all-day kindergarten by the 2017-18 school year. That phase in is nearly complete. A recent visit by Columbian reporter Kaitlin Gillespie to Meadowlark Clark’s class at Tukes Valley Elementary quickly reveals some of the benefits of having more class time. Compared with the half-day kindergarten she used to teach, Clark is able to spend much more time on foundational skills, such as reading and math, that will help her young pupils do better, first in primary school and then throughout their academic careers. There’s more time for structured play, too, along with music, art and learning to interact with peers and adults.
Because these children are at the start of their public school journey, it will be years before the success of the program can be measured. But with an abysmal 78.1 percent statewide graduation rate in May 2015, there is plenty of room for improvement.
Jeers: To old-fashioned parking meters. Coin-operated meters are a bygone technology. You need a pocketful of coins to buy more than a few short minutes of parking, and who carries cash these days? And like anything else mechanical, meters can jam, and they need to be serviced regularly, including sending a city employee out to empty each meter’s coin box and take the coins to the bank.
That’s why we prefer the parking kiosks that take credit cards, and other innovative services like the city of Vancouver’s Parkmobile digital service. Parkmobile has been available on a trial basis on about 100 downtown Vancouver meters for the past two years. The city plans to expand it to other parking meters in 2017 and 2018. Users who register with Parkmobile can pay digitally using credit and debit cards or PayPal and a smart phone. The upgraded meters each have a sticker identifying them. And the first 20 minutes is still free!