Eager to learn 4-year-olds are getting a jump start on their education thanks to a specialized program called the Student Readiness and Language Development Program (SRLDP).
"SRLDP was a life changer for us," parent Blair Lennane said.
Lennane's daughter went through the program at Dorris Place Elementary in the the Elysian Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles.
"It's almost like a boot camp transitional program that gets you ready for kindergarten," she said.
SRLDP was started by the LA Unified School District in the 70s as a way to even the playing field for low income and English language learners.
The program is so popular, there's already a waiting list for next year at Dorris Place, but the program is currently on the district's chopping block. Due to a budget shortfall, the program was scaled back from 17,000 students a few years ago to 10,000 today. The current budget plan calls for its complete elimination over the next two years.
"For us to be talking about cutting it now seems incomprehensible to me," the school's principal said, Susan Grant, who was also a former teacher.
Grant said she believed in the program "with all" her "heart" and that she's seen "class after class emerge confident, ready for their next level of education" through the 30 years she's been with the district.
School board member Bennett Kayser pushed to save the program Thursday, but the district said cuts needed to be made somewhere.
"I don't envy anyone that task because we've already been through a very bad time, but I would not want that on my conscience to take the program," Kayser said.
