Full-Day-Kindergarten Fees Draw Critics, Legal Concerns

States face challenges over how charges affect lower-income families

Oregon lawmakers are considering legislation in a special session that started Feb. 4 that would allow school districts to continue charging fees for full-day kindergarten—in light of the state attorney general’s recent ruling that said districts don’t have authority under state law to collect the tuition.

In December, Attorney General Hardy Myers issued an advisory on the matter after a couple in the 6,600-student Corvallis school district argued that they could not afford the $290 a month required to pay for a full-day program.

The district—among several with such charges—ended up refunding fees paid by low-income parents. But many school lawyers in the state contend that since the state only funds the half-day programs required under state law, districts are justified in continuing the long-standing practice of charging fees for the remainder...