AB 47, as amended, McCarty. State preschool program.
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.
This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2017, all eligible children to have access to the state preschool program the year before they enter kindergarten, if their parents wish to enrollbegin delete them. The bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature to provideend deletebegin insert
them, contingent upon the appropriation ofend insert sufficient funding in the annual Budget Act for this purpose.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
2Preschool for All Act of 2015.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
4following:
5(a) Recent reforms such as the common core state standards
6and the local control funding formula establish greater quality and
7equity in California’s public K-12 education system.
8(b) None of these reforms, however, address the reality that the
9achievement gap is present well before children first step through
10the kindergarten classroom door.
11(c) Recent research shows that by the age of two, low-income
12children are six months behind in language development relative
13to
their higher income peers. By age five, low-income children are
14more than two years behind in language development.
15(d) Research shows that California children with the largest
16gaps in school readiness and achievement are the least likely to
17participate in any preschool program and the least likely to attend
18high-quality programs.
19(e) Tens of thousands of eligible children do not attend state
20preschool or federal Head Start services, and only one-quarter of
21all four-year-old children are eligible to attend transitional
22kindergarten.
23(f) Children who are not reading proficiently by the end of 3rd
24grade are four times more likely to not graduate from high school
25on time.
26(g) Only 48 percent of California 3rd grade pupils test proficient
27or better in English-language arts.
28(h) More than 100 studies nationally have shown that
29high-quality preschool significantly improves children’s school
30readiness and school performance.
31(i) Numerous longitudinal studies show that high-quality
32preschool decreases grade retention and special education
33placements, and increases high school graduation rates, college
34enrollment, and earnings as adults as well as decreases costs in
35criminal justice and welfare.
36(j) Research over the last decade has shown that early learning
37in two or more languages increases children’s ability to think
P3 1flexibly and builds skills that are increasingly critical to
later
2success in college and career.
3(k) In the 2014-15 annual Budget Act, the Legislature and
4Governor committed to providing all low-income children with at
5least one year of state preschool or transitional kindergarten.
6(l) An independent research analysis of over 20 preschool
7programs demonstrated that quality preschool provides a return
8of $15,000 for every child served.
9(m) If California were to invest in high-quality preschool, the
10
overall savings in prison system expenditures alone are estimated
11to be $1.1 billion a year due to the reduction in prison population
12by 13,000.
It is the intent of the Legislature that both of the
14following occur:
15(a) All low-income children have access to either a state
16preschool program or a transitional kindergarten program.
17(b) Funds are allocated to expand the state preschool program
18to provide full day, full year preschool for all eligible low-income
19children who otherwise would not be served in either state
20preschool or transitional kindergarten.
Section 8235.1 is added to the Education Code, to
22read:
On or before January 1, 2017, all eligible children,
24pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 8263, shall have access to
25the state preschool program the year before they enter kindergarten,
26if their parents wish to enrollbegin delete them. It is the intent of the Legislature begin insert them, contingent upon the appropriation ofend insert sufficient
27to provideend delete
28funding in the annual Budget Act for this purpose.
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