BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2104
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Date of Hearing: May 25, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2104 (Gordon) - As Amended: April 25, 2012
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:10-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill repeals specified components of the Pre-Kindergarten
and Family Literacy (PKFL) program and combines these provisions
into the State Preschool (SP) program.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Repeals statute requiring the PKFL program to provide
parenting education for parents/guardians of children in the
SP program and instead, places this requirement within
existing law governing the SP program.
2)Repeals statute requiring the PKFL program to provide staff
development to SP program teachers and instead, places this
requirement within existing law governing the SP program.
3)Specifies that any new PKFL program participants will be
prioritized for SP funding based on whether the programs will
be located within the boundaries of schools ranked in deciles
one to three of the most recent Academic Performance Index
(API), as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)GF/98 cost pressure, likely in between $125,000 and $150,000,
to provide additional funding for PKFL classrooms.
2)The 2011-12 proposed budget provides $374 million GF/98 for
the SP program and $5 million for the PKFL program. According
to the Legislative Analyst Office (LAO), the state provided
145,000 slots for the SP program in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
AB 2104
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COMMENTS
1)Background . The state provides both part-day and full-day
preschool programs via the SP program. Part-day state
preschool programs provide comprehensive developmental
programs for three-to-five-year old children from low-income
families. The programs emphasize parent education and
encourage parent involvement. Also, the programs provide meals
or snacks to children, referrals to health and social services
for families, and staff development opportunities to
employees.
AB 172 (Chan), Chapter 211, Statutes of 2006, established the
PKFL program to provide funding to SP classrooms located in
the attendance area of school ranked in deciles one to three
of the 2005 API. Program participants receive an additional
$2,500 per class to serve four-year-olds, provide professional
development to their staff, and provide family literacy
services to their participants.
AB 2759 (Jones), Chapter 308, Statutes of 2008, streamlined a
number of child care and development program components with
the SP program. At the time, it was decided the PKFL program
should remain intact in order to ensure current grantees still
received funding to conduct family literacy activities.
Chapter 308, however, did allow PKFL programs to serve
three-year-olds in addition to four-year-olds, which was
consistent with the SP program.
This bill, sponsored by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, consolidates portions of the PKFL program into
the SP program, including providing parenting education and
staff development, as specified.
2)Does the PKFL program need to remain separate from the SP
program ? According to the LAO's 2007-08 Budget Analysis,
"The unique specifications of the new PKFL programs requires
SDE to issue a separate request for applications and to
appropriate and track PKFL funds separately from the standard
state preschool and wrap around child care programs. This not
only creates ongoing work in tracking and reporting for state
staff and providers but can reduce the potential impact of the
funds." Chapter 308 attempted to rectify this problem by
combining some PKFL program elements with the SP program, but
AB 2104
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it still retained the family literacy program as a separate
component.
This bill attempts to streamline the PKFL program beyond
Chapter 308, but would still retain the PKFL program as a
separate program from the SP program for the purpose of
providing family literacy activities. In order to truly
streamline the SP and PKFL programs, staff recommends
repealing the PKFL program and utilizing this funding to
establish a supplemental grant to the SP program for the
purpose of providing family literacy services to children and
their families. Likewise, staff recommends establishing
language to ensure current PKFL program participants continue
receive this funding to provide family literacy services.
This bill should also be amended to establish a priority for
any new supplemental grant funding for SP programs located in
deciles one to three of the API that provide family literacy
services.
Any new supplemental program established should also be
contingent upon funding allocated in the budget for this
purpose.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081