BILL NUMBER: AJR 16	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 6, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bonilla
    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Alejo,   Ammiano,   Atkins,   Bloom,
  Blumenfield,   Bocanegra,   Bonta, 
 Bradford,   Brown,  Buchanan,   Ian
Calderon,   Campos,   Chau,   Chesbro,
  Cooley,   Daly,  Dickinson,  
Eggman,   Fong,   Fox,   Frazier, 
 Garcia,   Gatto,   Gomez,   Gordon,
  Gray,   Roger Hernández,   Jones-Sawyer,
  Levine,   Lowenthal,   Medina, 
 Mitchell,   Morrell,   Mullin,  
Muratsuchi,   Nazarian,   Pan,   Perea,
 John A. Pérez,   V. Manuel Pérez,  
Quirk,   Quirk-Silva,   Rendon,   Salas,
  Skinner,   Stone,   Ting,  
Torres,   Weber,   Wieckowski,   Williams,
  and Yamada   ) 

                        APRIL 1, 2013

   Relative to Preschool for All in California.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 16, as amended, 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.