BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1719
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1719 (Weber and Buchanan)
As Amended May 23, 2014
Majority vote
EDUCATION 5-1 APPROPRIATIONS 12-0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Buchanan, Gonzalez, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Nazarian, Weber, Williams | |Bradford, |
| | | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Eggman, Gomez, Holden, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Chávez | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Requires, no later than March 1, 2015, the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to provide the
Legislature with a feasibility study and implementation plan for
providing a full-day kindergarten program in all public schools.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the feasibility study and implementation plan to
include recommendations for statutory changes and budgetary
requirements to ensure a seamless transition to providing
full-day kindergarten program in all public schools.
2)Requires the SPI, at a minimum, to consider all of the
following:
a) The instructional, social, emotional, and developmental
needs of children.
b) Teacher and other school staffing issues.
c) Classroom capacity issues.
3)Authorizes the SPI to convene a task force to advise the SPI
on feasibility and implementation issues for the purposes of
preparing the report required pursuant to this bill.
Specifies that the task force shall include representatives of
AB 1719
Page 2
school district superintendents, principals, kindergarten
teachers, related pupil support services personnel, and
parents.
4)Requires the report to be submitted in compliance with
provisions specified in the Government Code Section 9795.
5)Specifies that the provisions of this bill shall become
inoperative on March 1, 2015, and, as of January 1, 2016, is
repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes
operative on or before January 1, 2016, deletes or extends the
dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, administrative costs to the California Department of
Education, likely in the range of $120,000 to $150,000 to
administer the taskforce and develop a study and implementation
plan.
COMMENTS : Prior versions of this bill would have required
school districts to implement full-day kindergarten programs
beginning in the 2017-18 school year. The current version of
the bill requires the SPI to submit a full-day kindergarten
feasibility study and implementation plan to the Legislature by
March 1, 2015. The bill authorizes the SPI to convene a task
force comprised of specified representatives to advise the SPI.
In 2005, WestEd released a policy brief titled, Full-Day
Kindergarten: Expanding learning opportunities. In that brief
they compiled data from several studies on full-day
kindergarten. Full-day kindergarten can provide teachers with
more time to have both formal and informal interactions,
including more time for small-group and individual activities.
WestEd found that students in full-day kindergarten tend to be
better prepared for primary-grade learning than those in
half-day programs. They do better with the transition to first
grade, show significant gains in school socialization, and are
equipped with stronger learning skills. Studies also show that
full-day kindergarten students show faster gains on literacy and
language measures when compared to half-day kindergarten
students, a finding of particular importance for the growing
numbers of English learners. Moreover, such gains may last over
time. One study, for example, showed higher reading achievement
AB 1719
Page 3
persisting through third grade and in some cases through seventh
grade, a benefit that bolsters students' overall school
performance.
Prior to 2005, school districts interested in offering an
extended-day program (more than four hours) must seek a waiver
from the State Board of Education. AB 2407 (Bermudez), Chapter
946, Statutes of 2004, eliminated the requirement to seek a
waiver. A survey of full-day kindergarten in California
conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) in
2009 found that full-day classes increased substantially
following the enactment of AB 2407. In 2000-01, 11% of
kindergarteners attended full-day kindergarten programs. In
2007-08, 43% of kindergarteners attended full-day kindergarten,
with lower-performing and economically disadvantaged schools
more likely to offer full-day programs. PPIC noted that
California's enrollment of kindergarteners in full-day programs
lagged behind those of other states. According to PPIC,
two-thirds of all kindergarteners nationally attend full-day
programs.
According to the Education Commission of the States, while all
states permit full-day kindergarten on some level, as of 2010,
11 states, including Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana,
Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South
Carolina, and West Virginia require that full-day kindergarten
be offered. In New Jersey, schools in certain districts called
"Abbott" districts, who receive additional financial assistance
due to a Supreme Court order in Abbott v. Burke ((1997) 149 N.J.
145, 693 A.2d 417), are required to offer full-day kindergarten.
Some states offer funding to implement full-day kindergarten
but do not require it.
The author states, "Full-Day Kindergarten programs allow
children an opportunity to strengthen the foundational skills
necessary to succeed in school. These skills, including
socialization, following direction, and basic critical thinking,
are beneficial to the student in both the short and long terms.
Kindergarten students are also being held to new and more
rigorous academic standards, such as Common Core, and a
full-time program would seemingly aid in their ability to be
prepared."
AB 1719
Page 4
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0003820