Amended in Assembly April 22, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 47

Introduced by Assembly Member McCarty

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta and Eduardo Garcia)

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December 1, 2014

An act to add begin delete and repeal end delete Section 8235.1 begin delete of end delete begin insert to end insert the Education Code, relating to preschool.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 47, as amended, McCarty. State preschool begin delete program: report. end delete begin insert program. end insert

Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer all California state preschool programs, which include part-day age and developmentally appropriate programs for 3- and 4-year-old children, as provided. Existing law provides that 3- and 4-year-old children are eligible for the state part-day preschool program if the family meets one of several eligibility requirements, including income eligibility.

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This bill would require the Department of Education to report to the Legislature and Department of Finance, by June 1, 2016, a plan for expanding the state preschool program to all eligible low-income children who do not have access to one year of state preschool or transitional kindergarten. The bill would require the report to contain an analysis of the need for new facilities for the state preschool program in order to provide access to all eligible children.

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This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that no later than January 1, 2017, the state budget shall include an appropriation for the state preschool program sufficient to provide all children who are eligible for the program, and whose parents wish to enroll them, the opportunity to enroll in the program in the year before they enter kindergarten.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Preschool for All Act of 2015.

SEC. 2.  

The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Recent reforms such as the common core state standards
and the local control funding formula establish greater quality and
equity in California’s public K-12 education system.

(b) None of these reforms, however, address the reality that the
achievement gap is present well before children first step through
the kindergarten classroom door.

(c) Recent research shows that by the age of two, low-income
children are six months behind in language development relative
to their higher income peers. By age five, low-income children are
more than two years behind in language development.

(d) Research shows that California children with the largest
gaps in school readiness and achievement are the least likely to
participate in any preschool begin insert program end insert and the least likely to attend
high-quality programs.

(e)  begin delete Only one-half of California low-income preschoolers receive end delete
begin insert Tens of thousands of eligible children do not attend end insert state preschool
or federal Head Start services, and only one-quarter of all
begin insert four-year-old end insert children begin insert are eligible to end insert attend transitional
kindergarten.

(f) Children who are not reading proficiently by the end of 3rd
grade are four times more likely to not graduate from high school
on time.

(g) Only 48 percent of California 3rd graders test proficient or
better in English-language arts.

(h) More than 100 studies nationally have shown that
high-quality preschool significantly improves children’s school
readiness and school performance.

(i) Numerous longitudinal studies show that high-quality
preschool decreases grade retention and special education
placements, and increases high school graduation rates, college
enrollment, and earnings as adults as well as decreases costs in
criminal justice and welfare.

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(j) Research over the last decade has shown that early learning
in two or more languages increases children’s ability to think
flexibly and builds skills that are increasingly critical to later
success in college and career.

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(j)

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begin insert (k) end insert  In the 2014-15 annual Budget Act, the Legislature and
Governor committed to providing all low-income children with at
least one year of state preschool or transitional kindergarten.

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(k)

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begin insert ( end insert begin insert l end insert begin insert ) end insert  An independent research analysis of over 20 preschool
programs demonstrated that quality preschool provides a return
of $15,000 for every child served.

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(l)

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begin insert ( end insert begin insert m) end insert  If California were to invest in high-quality preschool, the
begin insert overall end insert savings in begin delete the end delete prison system begin insert expenditures end insert alone are
estimated to be $1.1 billion a year due to the reduction in prison
population by 13,000.

SEC. 3.  

It is the intent of the Legislature that both of the
following occur:

(a) All low-income children have access to either a state
preschool program or a transitional begin delete kindergarten. end delete begin insert kindergarten
program. end insert

(b)  Funds are allocated to expand the state preschool program
to provide full day, full year preschool for all eligible low-income
children who otherwise would not be served in either state
preschool or transitional kindergarten.

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SEC. 4.  

Section 8235.1 is added to the Education Code, to
read:

8235.1.  

(a) By June 1, 2016, the department shall report to the
Legislature and the Department of Finance a plan for expanding
the state preschool program to all eligible low-income children
who do not have access to one year of the preschool program or
a transitional kindergarten program.

(b) The department shall include in the report required pursuant
to subdivision (a) an analysis of the need for new facilities for the
state preschool program in order to provide access to all eligible
children.

(c) (1) The report required to be submitted to the Legislature
pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with
Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(2) This section is inoperative on June 1, 2020, pursuant to
Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, and as of January 1,
2021 is repealed.

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begin insert SEC. 4. end insert   

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begin insert Section 8235.1 is added to the end insert begin insert Education Code end insert begin insert , to
read: end insert

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begin insert 8235.1. end insert   

It is the intent of the Legislature that no later than
January 1, 2017, the state budget shall include an appropriation
for the state preschool program sufficient to provide all children
who are eligible for the program, and whose parents wish to enroll
them, the opportunity to enroll in the program in the year before
they enter kindergarten.

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