California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 16

Introduced by Assembly Member Bonilla

April 1, 2013

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 16—Relative to Preschool for All in California.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AJR 16, as introduced, Bonilla. State preschool programs: early learning.

This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to enact President Barack Obama’s budget proposal to increase funding for preschool and early learning. This measure would also urge the Superintendent of Public Instruction to prepare a plan for making California competitive for future increases in federal funding to preschool and early learning programs.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, To be competitive in the 21st century global
economy, California must have a dynamic and educated workforce;
and

WHEREAS, To strengthen and grow the middle class, California
must broaden investments proven to prepare students for college
and careers, and proven to create economic opportunity; and

WHEREAS, Research by a Nobel Laureate economist shows
that every dollar invested in high-quality early education can save
more than $7 later on, by boosting grade level proficiency and
graduation rates, increasing earned income and job stability,
reducing teen pregnancy, and reducing violent crime; and

WHEREAS, Study after study, over 100 in the United States
alone, shows that preschool significantly benefits children’s school
success; and

WHEREAS, Research has shown that the early years in a child’s
life, when the human brain is forming, represent a critically
important window of opportunity to develop a child’s full potential
and shape key academic, social, and cognitive skills that determine
a child’s success in school and in life; and

WHEREAS, During the preschool years, children not only
develop core academic knowledge in preliteracy and early math,
but they develop critically important learning skills, such as paying
attention, managing emotions, and completing tasks; and

WHEREAS, Research has shown that California’s academic
achievement gap exists before children start school; and

WHEREAS, Research shows that students who start out behind
too often also stay behind, and those who are not reading
proficiently in third grade are four times more likely to not graduate
from high school; and

WHEREAS, In 2012, 52 percent of California third graders
tested below proficient in English-Language Arts and more than
30 percent are not proficient in Mathematics; and

WHEREAS, Since 2008, over 110,000 children have lost access
to preschool and child care programs due to $1 billion in state
budget cuts; and

WHEREAS, Over 220,000 low-income three-and four-year-old
children who are eligible for the California State Preschool
Program or the federal Head Start program do not receive services;
and

WHEREAS, President Barack Obama in his 2013 State of the
Union speech called on states to partner with the federal
government to make sure every child, regardless of their parents
ability to pay, has access to high quality preschool; now, therefore,
be it

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully urges the
Congress to enact President Barack Obama’s budget proposal to
increase funding for preschool and early learning; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature respectfully urges the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to prepare a plan for making
California competitive for future increases in federal funding to
preschool and early learning programs; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the United
States.