To the Editor:

In The Tidewater News dated 2/28/2016 appeared a letter entitled, “Education: the sooner, the better.”

This letter states the obvious, that exposing young children to pre-kindergarten education is necessary, and there were several agencies that provide such services. It went on to say that “we”, the public, should support these programs “with the best resources we can muster.”

Well, you had me, Mr. Holt, until that last sentence.

Exactly what were you insinuating? If you meant the parents of the children the City of Franklin Public Schools has determined to be in dire need of a pre-kindergarten education were either not providing said education in the home or were not paying for pre-kindergarten exposure in one of the programs you mentioned in your letter.

Mr. Holt, if I’m not mistaken, you are a sitting school board member. Having said that, I’m sure you are aware of several facts about the City you are serving. 1.) Most of the homes are headed by single mothers who must work to provide for her family. 2.) There are very few decent paying jobs. 3.) There is no public transportation (I-Ride doesn’t count). Unfortunately, this leaves little time to prepare these children for school.

By the way, Mr. Holt, the City of Franklin has identified the need for a pre-kindergarten program. I believe it’s called Bright Starts.

This is an excellent program with one problem; it’s not open to all pre-kindergarten childen.

Since you had no real solution, maybe as a board member, you could work on making this program available to all the children.

Denise E. Grant
Courtland