BILL ANALYSIS SB 1381 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 4, 2010 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair SB 1381 (Simitian) - As Amended: August 2, 2010 Policy Committee: Education Vote:8-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No SUMMARY Commencing with the 2011-12 school year, this bill, as proposed to be amended , moves the kindergarten start date back one month each year for three years until September 1 becomes the date a child is required to be five years old to enroll in kindergarten. Specifically, this bill: 1)Establishes the following dates at which time a child must be five years old to enroll in kindergarten: (a) December 2 of the 2011-12 school year; (b) November 1 of the 2012-13 school year; (c) October 1 of the 2013-14 school year; and (d) September 1 of the 2014-15 school year and each year thereafter. 2)Requires, commencing with the 2012-13 school year, a child who would otherwise be eligible for enrollment in kindergarten to be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by a school district. 3)Defines "transitional kindergarten" (TK) as the first year of a two-year kindergarten program that uses a modified kindergarten curriculum that is age and developmentally appropriate. This measure also requires the attendance of pupils enrolled in a TK program to generate the same state funding as the attendance of pupils enrolled in a traditional kindergarten. 4)Requires a child, commencing with the 2011-12 school year, to be admitted to first grade of an elementary school during the SB 1381 Page 2 first month of a school year if he or she has his or her sixth birthday on or before specified dates (which corresponds with the three-year gradual roll back of the kindergarten start date), as specified. FISCAL EFFECT 1)GF/98 revenue limit funding (general purpose) costs over the following three year period: ------------------------------------- | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | |-----------+--------------+----------| | $19.8 |$40.5 million | $57.2 | | million | |million | ------------------------------------- These costs are associated with additional children attending a TK program as opposed to enrolling in kindergarten. For example, many parents simply choose not to enroll their children in kindergarten because their children have late fall birthdays. The Legislative Analyst Office assumes eight percent of parents choose to "red shirt" their children and not enroll them in kindergarten. This measure establishes a TK program and these costs assume the practice of "red shirting" will no longer occur because school districts are required to establish TK programs. Once the full effect of rolling back the kindergarten age requirement occurs (from December 2 to September 1), there would be a GF/98 reallocation of $715.4 million from kindergarten classes to TK programs, including the additional revenue limit costs noted above. Approximately 137,189 children would be affected over the three year period. Likewise, there will be GF/98 cost pressure in the millions to provide additional categorical program funding for these pupils (i.e., economic impact aid, instructional materials, etc.). 2)Annual GF/98 state reimbursable mandated costs, of at least $13.2 million, to school districts to hire additional teachers for the TK programs. 3)Annual GF/98 state reimbursable mandated costs, of at least $2.6 million, to school districts to provide professional SB 1381 Page 3 development to teachers and purchase portable classroom facilities for the TK program. COMMENTS 1)Purpose . In its analysis of The 2010-11 Budget: Proposition 98 and K-12 Education, the Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) recommends moving the kindergarten start date back to September 1 (requiring a child to have turned five prior to entering kindergarten) beginning in the 2011-12 school year. Specifically, the LAO states: "Many have argued that entering kindergarten before turning five years of age is too young, and beginning school at an older age would benefit children's academic performance and social development. Data suggest children who are older when they start kindergarten tend to perform better on standardized tests. Some research suggests this change also may lead to other positive student outcomes, including less chance of grade retention and higher earnings as an adult." According to the author, "California is one of just four states (along with Connecticut, Michigan and Vermont) with a cut-off date later than December 1st. In most states, children must turn five by September 1st in order to start kindergarten. California allows children as young as four years and nine months to start kindergarten as long as the child turns five by December 2nd." This bill, commencing with the 2012-13 school year, moves the kindergarten start date back to September 1, which requires a child to turn five years old on or before September 1 of that school year. It also establishes a TK program for children who turn five years old between September 1 and December 1, as specified. 2)Author's amendments . In the Assembly Education Committee, the author agreed to establish a TK program in the bill. This analysis reflects the proposed author's amendments and the agreement made in the previous committee. 3)Is it cost effective to require all school districts to establish a TK program ? By requiring a school district to establish a TK program, this bill creates a state reimbursable mandated program at a time when the state currently owes a SB 1381 Page 4 total of $3.2 billion GF/98 in outstanding K-12 mandate claims. Also, this measures requires a district to establish a TK program for pupils who are displaced by rolling back the kindergarten start date by one month over a three-year period. This requirement will be fiscally ineffective for many small school districts in the state. For example, if a school district only has two pupils who are eligible for the TK program because their birthdays were in November, the district is required to serve these pupils in this program. Is it cost effective for a school district to hire, train, and obtain a facility to establish a TK program that will only serve two children? Given the state's severe fiscal situation, the committee may wish to consider whether it is appropriate to require school districts to establish TK programs. 4)Existing law does not require children to attend kindergarten. If a child does attend, he or she must be admitted if the child will have his or her fifth birthday on or before December 2 of that school year. This bill does not propose to make kindergarten mandatory; it does, however, propose to incrementally roll back the age of kindergarten admission to September 1 by the 2014-15 school year. 5)SDE study on changing the admission age of kindergarten students . In May 2004, the SDE submitted a report to the Legislature on changing the kindergarten start date. Specifically, the report states that changing the kindergarten start date from December 1 to September 1 of each year would delay approximately 114,235 children from entering kindergarten for one year. It also affirms that this change can potentially save the state up to $400 million beginning in the second year of implementation. The amount of actual savings would depend on the assumptions of how to support or fund preschool services for those children whose entry into kindergarten would be delayed. SB 1381 Page 5 The SDE also cautioned that "rather than looking at the merits of changing the kindergarten cut-off date by itself, considerable thought should be given to the types of quality preschool services available for children whose entry to kindergarten would be delayed as well as for other children." 6)Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) establishes a TK program . In January 2010, Superintendent Ramon Cortines announced the school district's plans to pilot this voluntary program beginning in the 2010-11 school year with at least one program in each of LAUSD's eight local districts. LAUSD's program will emphasize pre-literacy instruction to develop beginning reading and mathematics skills. In addition to building cognitive skills, the program also seeks to address the development and enhancement of social and emotional skills that are important factors in doing well in school. 7)Related legislation . a) AB 1967 (Mendoza), commencing with the 2012-13 school year, moves the kindergarten start date back to September 1, which requires a child to turn five years old on or before September 1 of that school year. This measure was held on this committee's suspense file in May 2010. b) AB 1236 (Mullin) established the Kindergarten Year 1 and Kindergarten Year 2 pilot program for children eligible for kindergarten. This bill was held on this committee's Suspense File in May 2008. c) AB 2596 (Runner) incrementally changed the age at which a child is admitted to kindergarten. After three years (beginning in 2009-10), a child that has his or her fifth birthday on or before September 1 will be able to enroll in kindergarten. This bill was held on this committee's Suspense File in May 2006. SB 1381 Page 6 Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916) 319-2081