Children really matter in Cadillac

And it shows!

Public outcry and an overwhelming response to the potential elimination of Cadillac Area Public Schools four-year-old program successfully "stayed the execution." It was with fear and trepidation that your team of teachers and administrators faced the end of early education for our most fragile population. The end of the four-year-old program in Cadillac was essentially determined. The youngest students in our schools, young children with unlimited potential for learning and change, students that had their first classroom experience, meeting their first teachers and being introduced to a formal education. These little students would not greet their teacher come November.

Well, the outcome has changed. The Cadillac community and the teaching community responded loudly in Lansing and exerted enough pressure, communicated the blatant inequity and got people to listen and things to change. As of this writing, we will maintain the four-year-old program in our district through the end of the calendar year. What happens next is an unknown at this time, however, with an ongoing dialog with our leaders in Lansing there is hope for continuation of the program well into the future. Congratulations Cadillac, in these trying times you took a moment to be a hero in the life of a child, one hundred and fourteen four-year-olds to be exact.