This article historicizes the collision of K-12 public schooling and early childhood education by interrogating the ways in which people called for and implemented the public kindergarten into primary school over the past century. Using a theoretical framework that pays attention to the ways in which policy develops over time we provide a microhistory of one city, Austin, Texas. The historical narrative relates the details of the individuals who were engaged in the debate over kindergarten in the early 20th century while at the same time explicating the context that shaped those individuals. We conclude by using this portrait of the past to make sense of the current policy issues and to raise questions about the assumptions that circulate within today's policy environment.