A s many people know, we have just had some wonderful news that will benefit the young children of East Brunswick. After many years of having only a half-day kindergarten program, the East Brunswick Board of Education recently announced that starting next fall, the school system will offer a full-day kindergarten program.

In my opinion, those who care about having a full-day kindergarten owe a debt of gratitude to Hatikvah International Academy Charter School of East Brunswick. The first year of Hatikvah’s operation, after failing to close down the school, the East Brunswick Board of Education coincidentally developed a kindergarten wrap-around program, and then after losing yet another fruitless, wasteful lawsuit, miraculously after decades of only half-day kindergarten, the board announced a full-day kindergarten program.

Whether you support Hatikvah or not, this is good old-fashioned, open-market competition at its best — supply and demand forcing suppliers of education that is no longer a monopoly to move out of their stupor and start to make improvements to satisfy their “customers.”

So, Hatikvah, the little school that could, and its courageous founders, my hat’s off to you, not only for building a school that is developing young minds with a unique and high-quality education, but also for waking up a sleeping giant and motivating it to make needed improvements.

Now I ask the school board to continue making improvements that will impact all the students in the East Brunswick public schools. For example, you might reassess the curriculum and begin to reward the wonderful teachers we have so that the mediocre and ineffective teachers will strive to perform like their talented peers.

Lori Ginsberg
East Brunswick