I am opposed to and alarmed by the proposed legislation SB 837, which I believe is set for vote in the Senate on May 2.

I am more than concerned that the foundations of preschool and the entire child care profession are being challenged in this bill and that we are abandoning over 150 years of solid research and losing valuable expertise because of SB 837's wording.

My main concern is that this will be harmful to 4-year-olds.

SB 837 will take the current state funded preschool for 4-year-olds and require that these children be moved from pre-school and put into Transitional Kindergartens (TK). The elementary schools will get new funding, which has been traditionally funneled to preschools. Preschools are horrified because they realize they are losing state funding for all 4-year-olds and many child care facilities will have to close. Jobs will be lost.

Moreover, I have a fear that 4-year old boys will be put on anti ADD/ADHD drugs, such as Ritalin or Strattera, to calm down their natural 4-year-old energy, because the environment and curriculum will be inappropriate. Preschool and Kindergarten are radically different both in environment and curriculum.

The ratios in a preschool are much smaller. Some preschools are as low as 1 teacher to 5 children ratio, Title 5 requires no more than 1 to 8. In a kindergarten, the ratio changes to 1 credentialed teacher and 1 aide to 20 four and five-year olds. This is a safety issue. In preschools, we have licensing requirements that address safety. However, kindergartens are NOT required to follow these regulations.

In addition, this bill will take away parental choice. Many parents choose to put their preschoolers in Family Child Care Home Environments where the ratios are often small and in a more relaxed homelike setting. These licensed facilities give parents child care choices that SB 837 will remove.

Another senseless part of this is that I will be demoted to the position of aide, even with my doctorate, four degrees in child development, 31 years of experience in the field and 12 years of teaching college Early Childhood Education (ECE) courses. “Dr. Aide” doesn't sit right with me.

The way this bill is written, teacher credentials trump everything and there is no language about equivalency. Child Development experts and Early Childhood Educators complete their student teaching hours in preschools and not elementary schools. This bill sees the ECE student teaching as an invalid student practicum experience.

Lastly, to add insult to injury, our own ECE research is being twisted and used against us to justify taking jobs away from dedicated and skilled preschool teachers and child care providers. The research being referred to in the bill (see below for more details) to support TK is well known and documented research in preschool classrooms. There is no longitudinal research on TK because this is a new concept. Preschool research dates back to the early 1960's with Head Start and the Perry Preschool Project.
 
The bill misstates the longitudinal research because it is not TK research! This is preschool research and translating it to TK is completely misleading.

There are other key issues:

Qualifications
 
1. The qualifications for Transitional Kindergarten in SB 837 are completely inappropriate and will even exclude most ECE College Professors. Even a beginning K-6 teacher with a teaching credential will trump a professor with a doctorate. As the bill is written, a credentialed teacher with zero ECE units is designated as more capable and on a higher status and pay grade than a teacher with an AA, BA, MA, or Ed.D/Ph.D in Early Childhood Education/Child Development.  There needs to be a clear and easy path for equivalency to address these qualified individuals. In addition, the teachers have up to five years to get 24 ECE units. This puts 4-year-olds at risk in the TK classroom, for at least the next five years.
 
2. Associate teachers, who have a minimum of 12 ECE units will have the same job classification as current Teacher Aides/Assistants in existing elementary school classrooms, positions which require no course work in ECE or Child Development.
 
3. Child Development Teachers with AS degrees, who at Yuba College have a minimum of 30 ECE units, at least 16 units of General Ed, and 108 hours of supervised student teaching experience, will have the same job classification as a current Teacher Aide/Assistant in existing elementary school classrooms. Again, these Aide positions require no course work in ECE.
 
Curriculum and environment
 
1. The Preschool Foundations and Frameworks, which are based on current brain research, were created by the leading experts in the ECE field. The bill states that these foundations will continue only until standards are adopted for TK and there is no indication that the foundations will be used as a template for these standards. This seems like redundant work when we already have something that works so well. 

2. The foundations are built on a play-based curriculum, which is the most appropriate and foundational experiential modality for young children. This bill does not address this and does not even mention the word “play” as the vehicle to deliver the educational experience to 4-year-olds. The committee of National experts that put the Foundations and Frameworks together worked diligently to produce sound and appropriate research. The Foundations are tailored specifically for 48-60 month aged children (4-5 years).  Why can’t these be the set standards?  I am concerned that the newly adopted standards that are mentioned will not reflect developmentally appropriate practice (DAP).  Why reinvent something that clearly already works very well?
 
3. The current legislation designated a 3-hour TK program. How are educational standards maintained beyond the 3-hours designated for the TK programs? Are 4-year-olds going to be in the presence of much older children in after school programs with broad age ranges and increased ratios of up to 90 children in the gymnasium? This is not age appropriate for 4-year-olds socially or emotionally, nor is it safe. This bill hasn’t been well thought out.

Assessments
 
1. The Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) is currently being used for State funded programs as an assessment tool and is often used in addition to the portfolio method of observation and assessment. Will this be continued and how will kindergarten teachers manage this robust type of assessment with higher teacher-child ratios? Currently, kindergarten teachers are not trained on DRDPs. Will they be adequately trained?
 
2. In ECE, we recognize the importance of classroom environment with open selves and many center choices for young children who are still exploring. The Early Childhood Environmental Ratings Scale (3rd ed.) (ECERS-3) is our universal standard assessment tool. The bill doesn’t mentioned using the ECERS-R for creating classroom environments. Traditional kindergarten classrooms are inappropriate for preschoolers.  This bill does not address the classroom environment or acknowledge that kindergarten classrooms will need to be modified to deliver developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) for 4-year-olds.
 
3. The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) instrument has been adopted as a standard for evaluating teacher-child interactions and has strong research-based evidence to support its efficacy. Will this be abandoned? There is no mention of how teacher-child interactions will be evaluated if this bill is passed. In contrast, many current kindergartens are not approaching education from a "child development" paradigm. Inappropriate teaching materials, activities, and skills are expected of children when they are not developmentally ready to accomplish them.  Worksheets, workbooks, testing, individual desks, and ability-groupings are instituted earlier and earlier, and can lead to our 4-year-olds failing and becoming full of anxiety and depression and "turned off” to school.
 
Misleading
 
The term “TK or Transitional Kindergarten” is confusing and implies that 4-year-olds will be in kindergarten.  Will it look like kindergarten?  A classroom specifically designed for four-year old children should not look like a kindergarten classroom.
 
In addition, the misuse of the reference to research in the bill, which uses ECE research and misstates it as TK research, is wrong and misleading. This is only being done to justify taking jobs away from dedicated and skilled pre-school teachers and child care providers.

The bill misstates the reference to research and reads:
 
line 20 (9) Numerous longitudinal studies have shown that high-quality
line 21 transitional kindergarten programs decrease grade retention and
line 22 special education placements and increase high school graduation
line 23 rates, college enrollment rates, and earnings in adulthood.
line 24 High-quality transitional kindergarten programs also decrease
line 25 taxpayer costs on criminal justice and welfare.

This is not TK research! This is preschool research and translating it to TK is completely misleading.

Private local providers

The bill needs to authorize school districts to use private local providers for transitional kindergarten.  The wording should be strengthened to place private local providers as the first option for school districts.  In other words, school districts would only develop their own programs if there were insufficient private local providers to provide transitional kindergarten.

Summary

Early childhood education and kindergarten are entirely different environments. ECE specialists and educators provide a safe, stimulating, and developmentally appropriate environment.

We encourage a hands-on approach, which is based on sound theory and over one hundred years of research and experience in our profession.  Our goal is to create a life-long love for learning in all children.

We are extremely concerned that inappropriate TK programs could destroy everything that our profession has worked so hard to create and decimate an essential part of every 4-year-old's learning foundation.

Dr. Laurie Daly, Ed.D, is professor of Early Childhood Education at the Yuba College Clear Lake Campus in Clearlake, Calif.

On March 14, Judge Richard Martin issued a writ to keep our senior mobile home rent control initiative off the ballot.

There was no question that our initiative was flawed. However, under California law, the judge has the power to repair, or order repaired, “non-material errors.”

The “guiding principal,” in this regard, according to case law, is that the intent of the lawmaker remains intact after the proposed changes are made.

Since, in this case, I proposed the law, I reiterated to the judge my intent: I wanted to protect seniors from rent increases that far exceeded cost of living increases.

I told Judge Martin that my intent had been made clear on the local public radio, public TV and in the press by way of letters to the editor. And, if he ordered the changes required to make the initiative “valid,” the intent of the initiative would remain intact.

In the end, the judge merely repeated the flaws in the initiative. But the real question before the court was not the flaws, which we had conceded, but whether the court would allow them to be repaired, as California Code allows.

Keep in mind that under our judicial system, courts are constrained by the doctrine of “stare decisis,” which means that the judge must follow the rulings of higher courts (except the Supreme Court, which can reverse itself). The judge did not cite case law on which he based his decision.

So, this meant that Judge Martin used his discretion to rule for the park owners, or allow the initiative to go to ballot, and let the people decide the matter. Judge Martin looked out at the audience of elderly in the courtroom, and, with the brevity of a signature, extinguished their hopes.

Let me be clear: I have no personal grudge against Judge Martin. Quite the opposite; I found him amiable and he gave me all the time I needed and plenty of latitude in making my case. But, in the end, as I said, he kicked us off the ballot.

And then I realized that the conclusion had been foregone. Judge Martin would never have made any other decision: He is a member of the power structure of Lake County, which consists of all white, all male, all conservative and relatively wealthy individuals. He was appointed by a Republican governor. These folks believe that old people in economic distress should have planned better.

However, there are many seniors in Lake County who have worked hard all of their lives, but never earned enough money to acquire significant savings. These seniors are not asking for frills; merely that their income does not shrink at the hands of predatory park owners.

There was a small victory, however. The owner of Sterling Shores Park, likely motivated by the possibility of rent control, sold to a nonprofit corporation, Caritas. Caritas’ philosophy is to never increase the rents more than the increase in the cost of living. So, at least there is safe harbor for the residents of that park.

Monday morning we begin to look into the appeals process. If that fails, we will begin again, this time wiser and more determined than ever. The Nobel Prize-winning author, Albert Camus, said, “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.”

As for me personally, on Friday afternoon, I invited myself to a “pity party” and downed a few shots of tequila. Saturday, I kayaked on the lake, and Sunday I hiked in Boggs Forest.

And then, it hit me: It did hurt to lose this round, and I felt like I let my fellow seniors down, and a whole lot of effort went to naught, but, I had a great experience.

I got to know the joy of immersing myself in a campaign, of reading until I began to fall asleep, of falling asleep thinking of the campaign and waking up thinking about the campaign, of exploring legal issues of statute and case law, and of championing a cause that was larger than myself.

Lastly, to the bad actors who have sought to enrich themselves on the backs of the elderly poor, I have this to say: I am coming to get you! (Within the context of the law, of course.)

Nelson Strasser lives in Lakeport, Calif.

Reading doesn’t just improve your mind; it can improve your health as well.

A host of scientific studies have found that reading has many beneficial effects on our health and well-being.

A research project conducted by Mindlab University at the University of Sussex found that reading beat out other activities for stress reductions.

The study tested a multitude of activities, such as listening to music or having a cup of coffee, and found that reading worked best, reducing stress levels by 68 percent. Reducing stress is an important key to good health.

Reading also gives a boost to memory and may protect against cognitive decline as we age. Reading can be an intense activity for the brain calling upon vision, language, concentration, imagination, and associative learning.

Researchers at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found that engaging in activities that stimulate the brain throughout life builds up a “cognitive reserve” that will help protect against late-life decline in brain activity.

The Center for Occupational and Environmental Neurology in Baltimore did research on workers exposed to lead. Lead commonly causes neurological problems, but those workers who were good readers were found to be in better health than their fellow employees.

Keeping the brain active, through activities like reading, may build up a cognitive reserve that shields you from brain injury and impairment.

Those who read, especially those who read literary fiction, may be more empathetic. A study done by Erasmus University Rotterdam found that those who were really absorbed by a fiction novel showed an increase of empathy compared to those who read non-fiction.

Another study at the University of Buffalo found that readers who really identified with characters from a fiction story actually got the same mood boosting benefits of real-life social connections. Increased empathy and feelings of belonging can make people feel happier and thus lead to better health outcomes.

For the month of January, Lake County Library at 1425 N. High St. in Lakeport is highlighting new books in their health collection with a special display.

So stop by the local library and pick up a book – it just might be better than an apple at keeping the doctor away!

The library is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and open late on Wednesday night, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

You can call the library at 707-263-8817 for more details.

Christopher Veach is the county librarian for Lake County, Calif.

Beginning in the month of March all branches of the Lake County Library will have special play tables with manipulative toys and games for young children and their families.

We often think of play as the opposite of work, but for young children that couldn't be further from the truth.

For children, play is how they learn about the world.

A baby's playful babbling teaches them how to make all the sounds they'll later need to say their first word.

A toddler banging on pots and pans learns that different pots make different noises.

When playing together a child might learn that some children are bossy while others are shy.

When a child is engaged in self-directed, imaginative play they are learning about the world around them and developing their emotional self.

Recent studies show that a child's emotional development begins early in life and is very closely tied to their cognitive, language and social skills.

This means that early emotional development lays the foundation for future academic achievement, mental health, and the ability to be a successful member of society.

It's important to lay down the foundation of emotional development so children have the skills necessary to learn and thrive later in life.

These skills are often referred to as "executive function" and are skills such as focus, self-control, communication, making connections and being able to take on new perspectives.

These skills are the "how" of learning, which enable children to be prepared for the "what" of learning such as reading, math, and science.

A simple activity like playing with blocks teaches a young child so much.

A young child who picks up a block and feels the angles and curves of the different shapes is learning the fundamentals of shape and proportion.

When they pick out a blue block from the yellow ones they are learning to compare and differentiate by seeing patterns.

When they build a tower only to have it topple over they are subtly learning principles of physics and support.

Best of all is if all this learning is self-directed. When children have control over the direction of their own learning they are setting up the building blocks to be inquisitive, engaged life-long learners.

Let your local library be that place where your child can experiment and explore in order to learn about the world around them.

Besides our play tables, and of course our large selection of books for children, we also have weekly story times at two of our branches.

At story time children are encouraged to imagine, play and develop while listening to stories, singing songs, and creating crafts.

Lakeport Library has story time every Friday at 10:15 a.m. and Redbud Library in Clearlake has story time every Thursday at 11 a.m.

Middletown Library will have a monthly story time starting in April.

Check our Web site at www.library.lakecountyca.gov for more information.

Christopher Veach is the county librarian for Lake County, Calif.

There is nothing quite like a good novel to allow you to really get inside the mind of another human.

A good story with compelling characters can require us to guess at the hidden motives of characters or let us see the inner workings of their mind.

That glimpse inside the mind is quite unique to books. No other form of entertainment really allows us to be immersed in the thought process of others like a novel.

Here are three recent novels that have really great, compelling characters:

“The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak is set in 1939 Germany and features Death itself as the narrator.

The true star of the show, though, is 9-year-old Liesel Meminger, who risks everything to steal books from the Nazi Party.

She isn't the only interesting character though, as she meets and befriends an eclectic group by sharing her stolen goods with them.

While “The Book Thief” has been made into a movie only the book can really let you peek into Liesel's world.

“The Lowland” by Jhumpa Lahiri is a family saga that depicts characters with complex motivations.

This novel, set in 1960s India and America, follows two brothers who are like night and day. When one brother joins a radical movement and ends up in grave danger his family members are left to try to find their own understanding of his actions.

Lahiri's characters are incredible in their complexity and the reader is left to make sense of their actions ... or inaction.

In “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt the story starts out following a young boy, Theo, whose mother is killed in a terrorist bombing at an art museum.

The reader follows this boy as he grows up and tries to make sense of the act that changed the course of his life.

“The Goldfinch” is populated by eccentric characters and Theo's journey to adulthood and his reconciliation of personal tragedy is completely engrossing.

These books and more can be found at the Lake County Library.

For the month of February come check out books from the “Beneath the Surface” display at the Lake County Library in Lakeport, which has books that take a more literal look “beneath the surface,” such as books on mining, earthworms and the underground railroad.

The Lake County Library in Lakeport is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and stays open late on Wednesday from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Christopher Veach is the county librarian for Lake County, Calif.

After taking some flack for uploading a photo to Facebook depicting what appears to be a deceptive marketing practice to gather referendum signatures I took a road trip to visit the petition gatherers and hear what they had to say.

The two I met were from Sacramento and hired by a Sacramento company called American Petition Consultants.

The guys are paid a buck each for signatures on two state measures and $2 a pop for the marijuana ordinance referendum.

The referendum effort is being sponsored by the newly formed “Community Alliance to Ban Illegal Cannabis Cultivation.”

The group includes some of the folks who were involved in last year's failed Measure D marijuana initiative.

The name “Community Alliance to Ban Illegal Cannabis Cultivation” raises the question, how can you ban something that's already illegal?

I met with one signature gatherer who was working the door at Walmart; the other had set up shop outside of Safeway in Lakeport.

The Safeway guy said he's collecting around 300 to 500 signatures a day on three petitions combined, so he's making a pretty decent wage. I imagine there are plenty of local folk who would leap at the opportunity to make that kind of money.

Unfortunately, both were utterly uninformed about the new county ordinance; one admitted that he didn't know the specifics while the other explained that I could have six plants on an acre and 24 on 20 acres. Neither seemed aware of the option to grow indoors.

The guy who admitted he didn't really know much about it explained that the referendum was to protect mom and pop businesses from corporate takeover. He said this was to let the voters decide. So I asked him if he'd ever heard of our Measure D. Nope.

Measure D was a grower-sponsored initiative put to the voters in June 2012. It went down to defeat by a two-to-one margin.

All in all, the petition gatherers were very pleasant, though totally ill informed about the place where they are working.

While I was kicking it with one of the guys, a couple signing the petition explained to me that part of the ordinance was to charge fees for plants and require “RFID” – radio frequency identification – tags so officials could drive through neighborhoods and check on compliance with some kind of radio receiver.

In addition to that paranoid departure from reality they also apparently thought Measure D won and had been altered by the Board of Supervisors after passing. I asked if they paid attention to local news and both those local people said no.

To satisfy my curiosity I'd looked up the petition for the advertised children's hospital funding on the Secretary of State website and learned that's not what the ballot measure really is.

The fabled “Children’s Hospital” ballot initiative is actually an initiative to change legislative rules to require a two-thirds vote in the Legislature when they want to amend existing laws that impose fees on hospitals. It also directs the fees collected to pay hospitals for uncompensated care for the uninsured of any age, even children.

To my surprise the text of the initiative has no Children’s Hospitals mentioned at all. Nice try, but no cigar.

The third petition being offered for signature is to require drug and alcohol testing for doctors and for those test results to be reported to the California Medical Board. Positive tests would require suspension of the doctor and disciplinary action if the doctor was impaired while on duty.

John Jensen is co-founder of Lake County News. He lives in Lucerne, Calif.