Jennifer Lilintahl said she knew her 5-year-old daughter wasn't ready to learn how to read with other kids her age in the kindergarten classes last school year at Lafayette Elementary School in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Washington D.C. Although her daughter was eligible to attend kindergarten due to her age, Lilintahl enrolled her daughter in a mostly play-based pre-kindergarten class at a local preschool for the third year in a row. This January, Lilintahl emailed the school's principal to say her now almost-6-year-old daughter is ready for kindergarten this fall. But the principal said the girl must enroll in first grade for the 2025-2026 school year, which begins on Aug. 25, because she'll be six-years-old in September. Lilantahl was dismayed. She thought it wouldn't be an issue because she knows other parents from the district who had previously delayed their child's start of kindergarten by one year. Several other parents made similar requests to enroll their nearly six-year-old children in kindergarten for the 2025-2026 school year. Their requests led DC Public Schools officials to say in the 2024-2025 spring semester the district is going to more strictly enforce an existing policy that disallows parents from delaying their children's kindergarten start date, said Evan Lambert, a district spokesperson. That means parents who don't enroll their kids in kindergarten when the district says they are supposed to will have to forego that year, he said. Typically, kids in states where kindergarten is required start when they are 5 years old before a certain cutoff date, whichranges from August to December. If their schools allow, parents can choose to delay their required kindergarten start date to the next school year, which is a practice in schools widely known as "redshirting." Opponents of redshirting often argue it creates inequities among schoolchildren because it gives older kids an upper hand when they enter kindergarten. Recent national test score data shows theachievement gapamong the nation's highest and lowest learners in American schools has widened over the last several years. Those who support the practice often say parents are not trying to take advantage of the system, but that they are best able to determine whether or not they ready for the academic rigor of kindergarten, including the social and developmental expectations of those classrooms. Lilintahl is adamant that her family is not trying to give her daughter an upper hand by making her the older student in class. She said her daughter genuinely deserved and needed the extra year in pre-kindergarten and she consulted with the young girl's nursery teacher and pediatrician about her worries, who agreed with her. She has petitioned the district's decision and joined other parents to protest this enforcement of the policy. The school principal Katie Prall sent her family a final rejection letter, which Lilanthal provided to USA TODAY, on Aug. 4. In the letter, Prall says she and staff "reviewed all relevant evidence," including test scores, past education and input from parents before making its decision. Lilantahl said she's "really angry" and said the principal and school district for "being so rigid and illogical." "This is not only setting her up for failure for first grade, but for her entire education as well as the rest of the classroom," Lilintahl said. "We're really angry, to put it bluntly, at this principal the school district for being so rigged and illogical." Lambert told USA TODAY that district officials cannot comment on the case, citing student privacy laws. The district "is committed to ensuring every student has access to a great education in our schools," he said. "DCPS assigns grade levels based on age to make certain students are placed with their peers and in alignment with district education standards," he wrote in an email. "In rare cases, school-based teams may determine—based on evaluations comprising observation and formal assessments—that a different grade placement is appropriate after enrollment. Families are encouraged to enroll and work with their school team." The controversy in the nation's capital over delaying schooling illuminates tension between schools that want kids to attend the grade they qualify for and parents who say they know best for their child. The debate is one of the latest issues for the growing parents' rights movement, which has been dominated by public school parents want more control over what their children learn and where they go to school. For them, deciding when their kids start school is now not up up for debate. Keeping them there:Why parents who moved kids to alternative schools amid pandemic Ariel Taylor Smith, senior director of the National Parents Union Center for Policy and Action, said parents should have the right to choose when their kids start kindergarten. Some kids need the "additional year of schooling" in pre-kindergarten and parents and their communities often know better than a school district, she said. She argues that not giving parents the choice will lead those who have the means and access to leave public school districts. "Kids will go to private schools if they're not allowing an extra year," she said. Public school enrollment is already on the decline and national data shows public school are expected tolose 4 million kidsby 2031. The drop is due in part to declining birth rates and more access to other types of schools, including private and parochial schools, in regions with school vouchers and other choice programs. School districts often receive less money when students leave their schools because many state funding models are based on either enrollment and attendance. Though some principals have allowed redshirting in DC Public Schools in the past, that will no longer be the case, unless there is an exception in rare cases, said Evan Lambert, a spokesperson for DC Public Schools, in an email to USA TODAY. Lambert cited a local law that says all children who live in the region are required to attend school beginning the school year "in which the child is or has become five years old by September 30." At a June 23news conference, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said "we shouldn't have a policy to say we want some kids to be advantaged to the disadvantage of other kids." Moving forward, the district will strictly follow the law by assigning age-centered grade levels, he said. As millions of kids skip kindergarten:The learning gap widens – and schools may lose funding About one in 10 parents said in a survey theydelayed their child's kindergarten start dateduring the 2021-2022 school year, with a majority indicating their kids' weren't emotionally or academically ready or they were too young. The research, published by EdChoice, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization thatadvocates for school vouchers, and conducted by Morning Consult, shows one in five parents surveyed were influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. An older academic journal article,published in 2013, said about 5% of kids in the United States were redshirted each year. Redshirting sets up a clash between the parent who says they want to do the best thing for their kids and those who are concerned about inequity between kids from families of different means, said Deborah Stipek, a professor of education at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. Wealthier families have more access to childcare, which gives them more flexibility to delay school, she said. "I'm sympathetic with parents who want to redshirt their child, but on a broad scale, the issue is that it does create some inequities, because parents who are able to hold kids back are able to provide more resources and have childcare resources," she said. "On average, kids who come from low-income families already start with fewer foundational skills than those with more affluent families. If kids with more affluent families come in at an older age, it creates a bigger gap." Parents often delay their child's kindergarten year when they believe they are developmentally behind or want them to have an extra year of schooling. Stipek pointed toresearch that showsboys from affluent families are more often redshirted by parents who think the delay could give them a competitive edge. "Boys tend to be a little behind girls on average," Stipek said. Stipek and others who've researched the effects of redshirting for decades call it a nuanced and complicated issue for parents and schools because there's not a clear "readiness" indicator for kindergarten. "I think we've decided to use age, because as imperfect as it is, it's reputable," Stipek said. "But the problem is there's huge variability in kids' readiness for a more structured educational environment." Whether schools choose to allow for redshirting or not, they need to better prepare their kindergarten teachers to educate children from different ages and skill levels, she said. "I think the real issue is not should all kids be required to enter at a particular age," Stipek said. "The real question is how are we creating educational environments to adapt to kids differences when they want in the door." Kindergarten has changed over time. The first year of a child's academic career used to be more play-based, but now there's more of a focus on academics, said Christopher Brown, a professor of early childhood education at the University of Texas at Austin. That's largely because average reading scores have declined and there's more pressure on teachers to make sure kids are ready for assessments. "Elementary schools are worried about test scores and policymakers view it through the lens of academic achievement," he said. Even so, kindergarten teachers have told Brown that kids come into their classes with a range of foundational skills regardless of their ages. "Schools should consider how ready they are to support kids and families when they walk in the doors and helping them get where they need to be," Brown said. Historically, research on redshirting has shown that kids who entered kindergarten a year later than their peers "score a little higher," he said. "But that usually evens out in upper grades." Among the states wherekindergarten is required, policies on the practice vary widely by school community. The option of choice largely depends on where families live, and some statesdo not require kindergartenat all. States and school districts largely determine whether or not studentsare allowed to start kindergartenat a later date than their peers. "Oklahoma, for instance,requires children to enroll in half-day kindergartenin the school year after they turn five (September 1 birthday cutoff), but parents are allowed to delay their child's kindergarten entry by a year at their own discretion by submitting a form," Richard V. Reeves, president of the American Institute for Boys and Men, wrote in acommentary for the Brookings Institution. For parents who are questioning whether or not to delay their kid's kindergarten start date, Brown said to research what options and type of kindergarten classes their local school offers, to talk to other adults who may know what's best for the child, including a preschool teacher, and to consider those choices early. They should also consider whether or not they have the childcare resources to keep their kids out of kindergarten an extra year. "Then consider, do we think little Johnny's ready for school?" he said. "A lot of parents don't start thinking about it until their kid is four. Be informed, make a decision, and once you make it, support it." Brown said he's personally "always been an advocate that if you feel like they're ready, send them." No matter what parents choose, Brown said parents should be confident about their decision because kids can sense when their parents have doubts about their awareness of their abilities. That can take a toll on their self-esteem and academic and developmental skills. Lilintahl said she wants to avoid future learning setbacks for her daughter. The district tested her 5-year-old daughter on July 29 to determine her readiness for school, and she failed the reading portion of the test, she said. The mother said she'll continue to fight the district's decision, and has expressed her frustration with jurisdiction officials, but she's "lost a lot of trust in the school and principal." First grade isn't an option for their family. "She doesn't know how to read," Lilintahl said. Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@usatoday.com. Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:What is redshirting? New parents' rights controversy stirs in DC.
