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Well done, Joe. A few points worthy of note: First, full-day kindergarten is not needed. The fact that 75% of private schools have full-day kindergarten is not "evidence" of anything. Full-day kindergarten, like Head Start is a glorified baby sitting service with virtually no long-term positive outcomes. It is, however, the latest darling of teachers' unions as it justifies more teaching positions and consequently more union dues. Second, you observe: "Small high schools have benefits such as greater academic achievement and greater extracurricular participation." Take a look at your own alma mater, where lower enrollment has led to embarrassingly low numbers in multiple male sports, to the extent that Vets almost had to cancel two hockey seasons. Tollgate dressed 16 players for this year's Thanksgiving game, and the overall condition of Warwick's male sports vs. schools with comparable enrollments is deplorable.

But we emphatically agree on the fact that "...the exodus of youth from Warwick is a side effect of some overall condition of the state." Warwick is a microcosm of the state. And the state is a living, breathing testament to President Obama's America. High taxes, high unemployment, open hostility to business, and a large portion of the adult population linked to a government payroll, all in exchange for deplorable government services and rampant government dependency. This is not a climate that is attractive to young families, young people graduating from colleges in RI, or native Rhode Islanders graduating out of state. They either don't stay, or don't return. Until RI's tax structure, which feeds the government pig and it's metastasizing tentacles, is significantly altered this death spiral is likely to continue.

From: School study needs to answer, ‘where have all the kids gone?’

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