BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1236
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 25, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gene Mullin, Chair
AB 1236 (Mullin) - As Amended: April 18, 2007
SUBJECT : Kindergarten: Age of Admissions; Compulsory School
Attendance; Kindergarten Readiness Program
SUMMARY : Moves up the date by 3 months by which a child must
be 5 years old to enroll in kindergarten and 6 years old to
enroll in first grade, beginning in 2011-12; makes kindergarten
compulsory, beginning in 2010-11; and establishes the
Kindergarten Readiness Program, beginning in 2011-12.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2008.
2)Makes findings and declarations about the benefits of delaying
the age children are permitted to enroll in kindergarten and
research that shows that preschool-age children are better
prepared for success in kindergarten and beyond when they have
attended a high-quality prekindergarten program.
3)States the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act that
all of the following shall take place:
a) School districts offer voluntary kindergarten readiness
classes for all children one year before those children
enroll in kindergarten.
b) Children be five years of age by September 1 in order to
attend kindergarten.
c) Children five years of age be subject to compulsory
education.
d) School districts inform parents and guardians of the new
age limitations for enrollment in kindergarten and first
grade that are implemented pursuant to this act.
4)Repeals the Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Program.
5)Establishes the Kindergarten Readiness Program beginning in
the 2011-12 school year as follows:
a) Requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to
allocate funds to participating county offices of education
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and school districts for purposes of making kindergarten
readiness programs available to all children during the
year before kindergarten. Specifies that participation in
kindergarten readiness programs on the part of a pupil is
voluntary.
b) Requires participating county offices of education and
school districts to make kindergarten readiness programs
available within the attendance area of a child's
neighborhood school or in a contiguous attendance area no
farther from the child's home than the average distance for
attendance of any pupil in the child's neighborhood school.
Requires participating county offices of education and
school districts to permit, to the maximum extent feasible,
parents to choose the kindergarten readiness program that
their eligible child may attend.
c) Provides that to encourage the efficient use of existing
facilities, kindergarten readiness programs may be operated
using available classroom space at a public schoolsite
meeting kindergarten classroom requirements or at any
public or private facility that meets Title 5 licensing
standards.
d) Provides that federal funding for preschool programs and
state funding appropriated annually in the Budget Act for
the support of state preschool programs shall be used to
provide services for eligible 3- and 4-year olds, including
supplementing kindergarten readiness programs to provide
full-day preschool and child development services for
program participants.
e) Specifies that kindergarten readiness program funds
supplement, and do not supplant, federal and state funding
for existing child development and state preschool
programs.
f) Requires a participating county office of education or
school district to do all of the following:
i) Provide public notice of the availability of the
program in their service region and use a variety of
strategies to reach and inform families living in areas
of poverty or high linguistic diversity, including, but
not limited to, providing information through schoolsite
councils, school advisory groups, community
organizations, and parent meetings.
ii) Administer the program for participating
children. Provides that a county office of education or
school district that is administering a kindergarten
readiness program shall have the option of contracting
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with a public local agency or private local provider, or
both, to participate in the delivery of kindergarten
readiness program services consistent with the statutory
requirements of the program.
iii) Use professional development resources
received on behalf of certificated and classified staff
in the kindergarten readiness program to provide
specialized training in areas, including appropriate
screening, referral, inclusive practices, linguistic and
culturally appropriate teaching practices, research-based
and developmentally appropriate teaching methods to
achieve early learning foundations, and engaging and
effectively communicating with parents and families of
children with exceptional needs and English learners.
iv) Collaborate with the Head Start programs to
maximize the use of Head Start resources and funds.
v) Maintain and provide data to the SDE for purposes of
program evaluation.
g) Requires a kindergarten readiness program to include all
of the following elements to promote integration and
alignment with the child development and state preschool
system and the elementary education system:
i) Use of the research-based, age and developmentally
appropriate preschool learning foundations of the
department for all five early childhood domains and
elementary education content areas that are aligned with
elementary education standards.
ii) Use and implementation of curriculum and
assessment tools that align with the preschool learning
foundations.
iii) Inclusion in the single school plan for pupil
achievement, and participation in the California
Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CalPADS) or
the California School Information Services (CSIS) system.
iv) Coordination with other providers of service
to young children, including, but not limited to,
providers of health insurance, health services, including
mental and behavioral health, developmental screening and
assessment, parent literacy and education, and social
services, especially through systems of care provided by
First 5 school readiness programs, preschool
demonstration projects, healthy start programs, and
school health services and clinics.
v) Coordination of services with full-day, full-year
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early care, and education programs.
vi) Requires the Superintendent to establish
regulations necessary to implement the kindergarten
readiness program and shall incorporate, as appropriate,
existing regulations and guidelines based on the desired
results for children system and preschool learning
foundations developed by the department.
h) Requires, by July 1, 2011, the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing, in collaboration with the Superintendent,
California public colleges and universities, including
community colleges, to develop an early learning
credential. Specifies dates, the types of degrees, the
credential, and education a teacher and associate teacher
must complete.
i) Specifies that for the purposes of compensation,
including pay and benefits, kindergarten readiness teachers
and associate teachers shall provide two sessions per day
to be considered full-time employees and shall be employees
of the administering county office of education or school
district.
j) Provides that classrooms of no more than 20 children
with at least one teacher and at least one associate
teacher shall be employed in each classroom.
aa) Specifies that a kindergarten readiness program is
eligible for school facilities funding and provides that
funds made available to public schools for joint uses may
be utilized for a kindergarten readiness program.
bb) Provides that local providers are encouraged to seek
shared use agreements with a broad array of entities.
cc) Requires the SDE to establish and maintain an
evaluation system that ensures the privacy of children and
measures the statewide effectiveness of the program in
achieving the desired outcomes of children, using
developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate
and uniform tools statewide. Requires the evaluation system
to do all of the following:
i) Provide an accurate accounting of the number of
children enrolled each year and an accounting of parental
demand for kindergarten readiness programs.
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ii) Assess the progress of children and program
effectiveness by using the desired results for children
system.
iii) Use additional measures to determine whether
the statewide program is effective in accomplishing the
following:
(1) Decreasing the number of children retained
in the elementary grades.
(2) Decreasing the number of children placed in
special education classes.
(3) Improving reading and mathematics scores.
(4) Participation of children by ethnicity and
family income, including participation of children
from non-English speaking families.
(5) Improving transitions of children and
families to kindergarten and transitions from home and
care settings.
iv) Requires the SDE to submit a report based on
this information to the Governor and the Legislature
every five years following implementation of the
Kindergarten Readiness Program.
v) Provides that beginning July 1, 2011, a school
district that maintains a kindergarten readiness class
may apply to the Superintendent for an apportionment to
expand its class size reduction program to kindergarten
readiness classes.
6)Amends kindergarten readiness programs into the provisions in
existing law defining enrollment, establishing procedures for
apportionment of funds to school districts, defining minimum
schoolday, specifying instructional minutes, and establishing
the average daily attendance.
EXISTING LAW
1)Requires that a child be admitted to a kindergarten at the
beginning of a school year, or at any time later in the same
year, if the child will have his or her 5th birthday on or
before December 2 of that school year.
2)Requires that a child be admitted to the 1st grade of an
elementary school during the first month of a school year if
the child will have his or her 6th birthday on or before
December 2 of that school year.
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3)Subjects children between the ages of six and 18 years to
compulsory full-time education unless exempted pursuant to
prescribed provisions of law.
4)Establishes the Child Care and Developmental Services Act,
which provides various full- and part-time programs for a
comprehensive, coordinated and cost-effective system of
developmental services for children to age 13 and their
parents.
5)Establishes the Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Program, which
permits school districts, until January 1, 2014, to
participate in a program to provide opportunities to increase
a child's readiness for school.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background . The California Department of Education
(CDE) released a report in 2004 that examined the impact of
changing the "cut off" date for admission to kindergarten by 3
months. According to this report, moving the kindergarten date
from December 2 to September 1 would delay approximately 114,
235 children (25%) from entering kindergarten for one year and
could potentially save the state up to $391.8 million beginning
in the second year after implementation. The amount of actual
savings would depend on funding services for children whose
entry into kindergarten would be delayed. The report recommends
that thought be given to the types and quality of preschool
services that would be available to displaced children.
A 2003 analysis conducted by the Legislative Analyst's Office
(LAO) concluded that, under a proposal that was similar to this
bill, the number of children who enroll in kindergarten would be
20% lower than would have occurred otherwise. "The proposal
would continue to depress K-12 enrollment (by roughly 90,000
students annually, or roughly 1.5% of total K-12 enrollment)
until the children who entered kindergarten graduated from high
school." This LAO report found 2 major fiscal effects of the
proposal:
1) Annual state General Fund savings of roughly $450 million
from a lower Proposition 98 funding requirement (in
2003-04); and,
2) Annual savings on revenue limit spending of approximately
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$400 million and on categorical programs of roughly $200
million. These savings levels would continue for about 12
years.
Numerous studies have been conducted relative to school
readiness and the age of entry into kindergarten. Some studies
report a benefit to delayed entry while others show there is no
benefit. One report, What Age Should Children Enter
Kindergarten? A Question for Policy Makers and Parents (Stipek,
2002), concludes that school experience makes a greater
contribution to academic achievement than delaying children's
school entry. Initial benefits of starting school later that
were found in some studies tended not to last. Furthermore,
according to Stipek, research does not support any unique
"threshold" entry age by which young children are most ready to
begin school. Children from low-income backgrounds, already at
risk of starting school behind their middle-class peers in terms
of academic skills, may be even further disadvantaged when
kindergarten is delayed.
A 2005 study by the RAND Corporation titled "Delaying
Kindergarten: Effects on Test Scores and Childcare Costs" found
that delaying kindergarten boosts standardized test scores in
math and reading. However, the study also noted that delaying
kindergarten can have a negative economic effect on families by
imposing additional childcare costs for families. The report
suggests that "policymakers may need to view entrance age
policies and childcare policies as a package."
According to the Education Commission of the States, as of
August 2004 California was one of 5 states (Connecticut, Hawaii,
Michigan and Vermont) to have cut-off dates between December 1
and January 1. Hawaii passed legislation to change the cut-off
date from December 31 to August 1, beginning with the 2006-07
school year. Thirty six states have cut-off dates between
August 31 and October 16; four states have cut-off dates on or
before August 15; six states leave the entrance-age decision up
to local school districts.
Kindergarten Readiness Program . This proposal to establish
kindergarten readiness programs is consistent with
recommendations from the SDE, research, and stakeholders to
ensure that children who are displaced by the change of birth
date are able to access education that will better prepare them
for kindergarten. School districts or county offices of
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education are responsible for the administration of the
programs, which provide a better connection or link between
kindergarten readiness and kindergarten. As employees of a
school district, teachers and associate teachers are required to
have minimum levels of education, including a newly established
Early Learning credential. Districts are required to offer
kindergarten readiness programs in a child's attendance area,
but districts are also authorized to contract with private or
public providers to maximize the use of existing services and
facilities. The bill also requires an evaluation on the
effectiveness of the program and requires a report by the
Superintendent to the Legislature and Governor every five years.
Wrap-Around/Full Day Care . Kindergarten readiness classes are
required to provide three hours of instruction per day, similar
to kindergarten classes. This bill encourages coordination of
services with full-day, full-year early care, and education
programs. However, funds for wrap-around care for preschool
programs are limited. In order to accommodate working parents,
the author should consider other options that will enable
kindergarten readiness programs to offer full day care.
Facilities . This bill specifies that kindergarten readiness
programs are eligible for school facilities funding, including
joint use funds available to public schools. Authorizing bond
funds for preschool facilities may be more appropriate for the
deliberation of a 2008 education bond.
Compulsory education at 5 years of age . The County
Superintendents Educational Services Association states:
"Participation in kindergarten is more important now than ever
before. AB 1236 requires children to attend school starting at
age five years old, beginning July 1, 2010. Kindergarten and
Kindergarten Readiness set the foundation for early learning.
If children are not required to attend kindergarten, they miss
the fundamentals. Without compulsory attendance at age five,
children will be that much farther behind when they are required
to attend 1st grade at age six years old."
Arguments in Support . Preschool California states, "We support
AB 1236 because it ensures that all four year olds in California
would receive an effective pre-kindergarten experience. It
builds a program that will achieve the child outcomes preschool
is now known for: better vocabulary and language skills;
significantly higher reading scores on standardized tests
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through the sixth grade; increased high school graduation; fewer
referrals to special education; and less spending on prisons.
AB 1236 will achieve this by ensuring well trained and
compensated teachers, articulation with kindergarten,
developmentally appropriate standards and assessments, and
accountability."
The Superintendent of Rosedale Union School District, Jamie
Henderson, states: "As a public educator for 35 years I would
agree that moving the starting date for kindergarten to a
September 1 cut-off would have huge support form the educational
community. It would also put our start date more in line with
other states in our country.
I realize that there have been other bills in the past that have
attempted to move the kindergarten start date back. It is
critical that the Legislature act upon this as it is in the best
interest of our entering students."
Arguments in Opposition . Opponents state that parents should
have the choice of enrolling or not enrolling their children in
kindergarten at age 5. The Seventh-day Adventist Church states
that, "Seventh-day Adventists have long believed that the
parents in the home are the best educators for young children.
We place a very strong emphasis on religious and moral training,
as well as academic excellence.
As a matter of religious faith, many Seventh-day Adventist
parents choose a hands-on approach to their children's
education. AB 1236 would conflict with their religious beliefs.
While we recognize that there are reasons to enroll children in
kindergarten at the age of five, this decision should be
voluntary, not compelled by the state."
Related legislation . AB 571 (Jones), also on today's agenda,
requires access to preschool programs for three- and
four-year-old children from low-income families by 2011-12.
AB 683 (Sharon Runner), also on today's agenda, moves up the
date by which a child must be 5 to enroll in kindergarten and 6
to enroll in first grade, holds districts harmless for loss of
pupil enrollment, and states legislative intent to provide
displaced children with kindergarten readiness programs.
Prior legislation . AB 2596 (S. Runner), was a similar bill,
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except that the bill required any savings to be allocated to the
State Department of Education to provide reimbursement for child
care and development services for eligible (low-income)
families. The bill also made kindergarten compulsory. The bill
was held by the Assembly Appropriations Committee in 2006.
SB 1764 (George Runner), also changes the age of admission to
kindergarten, but requires any savings realized by these changes
to be appropriated to increase access to preschool programs for
at-risk 4 year olds. The bill was held by the Assembly
Appropriations Committee in 2006.
AB 1394 (S. Runner), introduced in 2006, was identical to early
versions of AB 2596, but was never heard.
AB 66 (Pavley) would have authorized 23 specified school
districts to operate a two-year kindergarten pilot program, a
component of which would have allowed a child who has had his or
her fifth birthday between September 1 and December 2 of the
school year to be admitted to year-one of the program with the
approval of the parent or guardian. AB 66 was held on the
Assembly Appropriations Committee's suspense file in 2006.
AB 2970 (Pavley) of 2004 would have authorized a school district
to offer kindergarten classes at different schoolsites within
the district for different lengths of time and authorized a
school district to change the age at which a child is admitted
to kindergarten. AB 2970 was held on the Assembly
Appropriations Committee's suspense file.
AB 810 (S. Runner) of 2003 would have moved up the dates by
which a child must be 5 years old to enroll in kindergarten and
6 years old to enroll in first grade. AB 810 failed passage in
the Assembly Education Committee.
AB 25 (Mazzoni), Chapter 1022, Statutes of 2000, created the
voluntary Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Program to test the
effectiveness of changing the kindergarten age of entry.
Beginning with the 2001-02 school year, participating school
districts could have required a child to be 5 years old before
September 1 to enroll in kindergarten. AB 25 provided funding
to school districts to compensate for the temporary loss of
attendance caused by changing kindergarten enrollment dates, and
required school districts to provide pre-kindergarten
instruction as a condition of the receipt of that funding. This
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pilot program has not been implemented because it was not
funded. It is scheduled to sunset on January 1, 2011.
AB 513 (Mazzoni) of 1999 would have moved up the dates by which
a child must be 5 years old to enroll in kindergarten and 6
years old to enroll in first grade, phased in the change
one-month at a time over 3 years, held districts harmless for
any loss of revenue caused by this change, required outreach,
made kindergarten mandatory, required an assurance that an
adequate number of preschool and child care spaces were
available from children who would have otherwise been in
kindergarten, and required an evaluation of the effects on
student performance. AB 513 was held on the Assembly
Appropriations Committee's suspense file.
AB 85 (G. Runner) of 1997 would have moved up the dates by which
a child must be 5 years old to enroll in kindergarten and 6
years old to enroll in first grade, phased in the change
one-month at a time over 3 years, and held districts harmless
for any loss of revenue caused by this change. AB 85 failed
passage in the Assembly Education Committee.
Governor Wilson's 1992 proposal (part of his proposed Budget) to
change the date for admission to kindergarten was not approved
due to concerns about the significant budget deficit.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California County Superintendents Educational Services
Association (co-sponsor)
California Teachers Association (co-sponsor)
Advancement Project
California Kindergarten Association
California School Boards Association (if amended)
First 5 Marin Children and Families Commission
Junior Leagues of California State Public Affairs Committee
Los Angeles Unified School District
Preschool California
Superintendent and a Board Member of the Rosedale Union School
District
Opposition
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Independent Private Schools of California
Seventh-day Adventist Church State Council
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087