BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING


          AB  
          47 (McCarty)


          As Amended  June 1, 2015


          Majority vote


           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Committee       |Votes |Ayes                |Noes                |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
          |Education       |6-0   |O'Donnell, Chávez,  |                    |
          |                |      |McCarty, Santiago,  |                    |
          |                |      |Thurmond, Weber     |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
          |Appropriations  |12-3  |Gomez, Bonta,       |Bigelow, Jones,     |
          |                |      |Calderon, Daly,     |Wagner              |
          |                |      |Eggman,             |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |Eduardo Garcia,     |                    |
          |                |      |Gordon, Holden,     |                    |
          |                |      |Quirk, Rendon,      |                    |
          |                |      |Weber, Wood         |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 


          SUMMARY:  Establishes the Preschool for All Act of 2015 and  
          requires, on or before January 1, 2017, all eligible children to  








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          have access to the state preschool program the year before they  
          enter kindergarten, if their parents wish to enroll them,  
          contingent upon the appropriation of sufficient funding in the  
          annual Budget Act for this purpose.  Finds and declares that  
          studies have shown that high-quality preschool significantly  
          improves children's school readiness and school performance, that  
          quality preschool provides a return of $15,000 for every child  
          served, and that investment in high-quality preschool will result  
          in savings in prison expenditures.  Further expresses the intent  
          of the Legislature that all low-income children have access to  
          either a state preschool program or a transitional kindergarten  
          program and to provide funds to expand the state preschool program  
          to provide full day, full year preschool for all eligible  
          low-income children.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, ongoing costs in the hundreds of millions to provide  
          all eligible children access to the California State Preschool  
          Program (CSPP).  To provide an additional 100,000 slots, the state  
          would need to provide approximately $400 million Proposition 98  
          (morning portion of 100,000 slots) and $391 million  
          non-Proposition 98 General Fund (for 75,000 of the remaining cost  
          of the full day, full year slots).  


          COMMENTS:  Background on child care and development programs.  The  
          California Department of Education (CDE) administers a child care  
          and development system, maintaining over 1,300 service contracts  
          with approximately 750 public and private agencies supporting and  
          providing services to children from birth through 12 years of age.  
          Contractors include school districts, county offices of education,  
          cities, colleges, other public entities, community-based  
          organizations, and private agencies.  According to the Legislative  
          Analyst's Office (LAO), overall funding for the child care and  
          development programs decreased by almost $1 billion between  
          2008-09 and 2012-13, with the elimination of 110,000 slots.  Last  
          year, state and federal funds provided an increase of $281  
          million, with a $2.4 billion allocation for child care and  








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          development programs, offering 355,000 slots.  


          CSPP.  The CSPP offers part-day and full-day preschool programs  
          through contracts with local educational agencies, private  
          contractors, and colleges.  These programs are required to comply  
          with health and safety standards under Title 22 regulations and  
          higher developmental and teacher qualification standards under  
          Title 5 regulations adopted by the CDE.  Priority for enrollment  
          goes to four- or three-year-old neglected or abused children who  
          are recipients of Child Protective Services or recipients who are  
          at risk of being neglected or abused, without regard to income.   
          Second priority goes to four-year-old children who were enrolled  
          in CSPP as a three-year-old, followed by four-year-old children  
          with the lowest income ranking.  Three-year-old children may be  
          enrolled after four-year-olds are enrolled.  Income eligibility is  
          70% of the state median income ($46,896 for a family of four).   
          Part-day preschool operates three hours per day for 175 days.  The  
          General Child Care program provides "wrap around" to provide  
          full-day care.  


          Fiscal Year (FY) 2014-15 budget increases.  In FY 2014-15, CSPP  
          received $664 million in Proposition 98 General fund for the  
          part-day preschool program.  The 2014-15 budget included 7,500  
          additional slots for preschool, plus an additional 4,000 slots  
          that would be effective on June 15, 2015. According to the CDE,  
          when the 4,000 part day slots were offered to contractors and  
          school districts, the CDE received requests for over 32,301 slots.  
           The Governor's proposed 2015-16 budget includes funds for 153,177  
          slots, 38,913 more slots than in 2008-09.


          The Assembly's recently adopted FY 2015-16 budget includes funds  
          to provide 10,500 additional full day CSPP slots, beginning March  
          1, 2016, while the Senate's budget increases General Child Care  
          and Development funds for infants and toddlers.  Both budgets  
          include funds for additional slots through the Alternative Payment  
          Program.   








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          What does this bill do?  This bill provides all eligible children  
          with access to the CSPP the year before they enter kindergarten,  
          if their parents wish to enroll them, contingent upon sufficient  
          funding provided in the annual Budget Act.  


          The author states, "A powerful body of research shows that  
          investing in quality early education is highly effective in  
          promoting student academic success. Early intervention in a  
          child's education increases cognitive, language, social, and  
          emotional development.  This leads to increased high school  
          graduation rates, college attendance, decreasing crime, and builds  
          a stronger middle class.  Recently, California has led the way  
          with historic reforms with the common core standards and the local  
          control funding formula.  Though both reforms strive to create  
          greater quality and equity in California's public education  
          system, these reforms will not close the achievement gap before a  
          child first enters a kindergarten classroom.  AB 47 expands on  
          last year's commitment from the Governor and Legislature to expand  
          the state preschool program for all low income families who do not  
          have access to one year of state preschool or transitional  
          kindergarten.  Now is the time to make a wise investment to expand  
          preschool to all eligible low income students."


          What is the estimated need?  It is challenging to determine the  
          full extent of the need of families that meet eligibility  
          criteria.  From 2005 to 2011, funds were provided to establish  
          centralized eligibility lists (CEL), providing data on the number  
          of families waiting for subsidized care in all 58 counties.  While  
          some counties voluntarily maintained the CEL, there is no longer a  
          statewide source of data collection.  The LAO estimates  
          approximately 31,500 four-year-old children who have need for  
          full-day preschool out of 250,000 four-year-olds who meet  
          eligibility criteria.     










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          Value of preschool.  Studies, such as those from the RAND  
          corporation, have shown that quality early childhood education  
          programs have a number of benefits, including improving children's  
          readiness for school, higher test scores, reduced grade-level  
          retention, higher rates of school completion, and higher  
          likelihood of college attendance.  


          Arguments in support.  First 5 California supports the bill and  
          states, "A powerful body of research shows that investing in  
          high-quality preschool programs enhances the quality of care and  
          education that children receive.  Studies conclude that  
          high-quality preschool programs improve school readiness and lead  
          to better long-term academic achievement.  Research also shows a  
          child's brain develops most dramatically during the early years of  
          life.  The school and life success of at-risk children can be  
          significantly increased through high-quality early learning  
          programs, which also are essential to preventing the achievement  
          gap.  In California, too many children miss out on a critical  
          developmental window of opportunity.  Only half of California's  
          low-income, preschool-aged children are served in State Preschool  
          or Head Start, and only one-quarter of all children are eligible  
          for the current transitional kindergarten program."


          Arguments in opposition.  California Right to Life Committee, Inc.  
          (CRLC) states, "CRLC does not support early childhood education by  
          governmental schools.  Young children need parental guidance in  
          their early years, especially.  When this is not possible,  
          families should locate childcare within their families or in  
          private agencies."  




          Analysis Prepared by:                                               
                          Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087  FN:  
          0000699









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