Dee Myers’ class at McKinley Elementary School in Salem is learning about Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman and the Civil Rights Movement.

That’s not unusual, until you consider this: the students are just 5 and 6 years old.

They’re in Kindergarten, but they’re in class for a full day. Myers says that extra class time is the reason she can teach such advanced material and meet the demands of today’s Kindergarten.

AP file photo

“Kindergarten today is not tying your shoes,” said Myers. “People come in and they are supposed to be writing their names and recognizing letters. Kindergarten teachers are asked to be teaching actually reading.”

Parents pay $250 per month for the class, but last December Oregon’s Attorney General’s Office ruled that charging tuition for public school classes is illegal.

Now there’s a bill in the Legislature that would allow districts to charge extra for full day Kindergarten.

Parents came to a Senate Education Committee hearing at the Capitol today to express their support for the bill. Educators say without the paying parents, they wouldn’t be able to support full day Kindergarten at schools that don’t receive federal anti poverty money, also known as Title 1.

Full day Kindergarten at Title 1 schools comes with no extra fees.

If the bill passes the Senate, it will move to the House for consideration.