BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 47
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|Author: |McCarty |
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|Version: |July 2, 2015 Hearing |
| |Date: July 8, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant: |Olgalilia Ramirez |
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Subject: State preschool program
SUMMARY
This bill requires by January 1, 2017, all eligible children
that qualify for the State Preschool Program, to have access to
the 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.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1)Establishes the California State Preschool Program for
purposes of providing part-day and full-day developmentally
appropriate programs designed to facilitate the transition to
kindergarten for three- and four-year old children in
educational development, health services, social services,
nutritional services, parent education and participation,
evaluation, and staff development. (Education Code § 8235)
2)Provides that three- and four-year old children are eligible
for State Preschool if the family meets one of the following:
a) Current CalWORKs recipient.
b) Income eligible.
c) Children are recipients of protective services (abused,
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neglected, exploited or at risk of being abused, neglected
or exploited). (EC § 8235)
3)Provides that three- and four-year olds are eligible for
wraparound child care services to supplement part-day State
Preschool if the family is eligible for State Preschool and
the parents need care for at least one of the following
reasons:
a) The child is a recipient of protective services, or at
risk.
b) The parents are engaged in vocational training, as
specified, employed or seeking employment, seeking
permanent housing, or are incapacitated.
(EC § 8239)
4)Defines "transitional kindergarten" as the first year of a
two-year kindergarten program that uses a modified
kindergarten curriculum that is age and developmentally
appropriate. (EC § 48000(d))
ANALYSIS
1)This bill requires by January 1, 2017, all eligible children who
do not have access to transitional kindergarten or the federal
Head Start, to 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.
2)Declares legislative intent that all low-income children have
access to either state preschool or transitional kindergarten
and funds provided for this purpose should be used to expand
full-day, full-year preschool for all eligible low-income
children who otherwise would not be served.
3)States legislative findings and declarations relative to
improving school readiness and performance through
high-quality preschool and the value of the state's investment
into high-quality preschool programs.
STAFF COMMENTS
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1)Need for the bill. According to research provided by the author,
early intervention in a child's education increases cognitive,
language, social and emotional development and investing in
quality, early education is highly effective in promoting
student academic success. The author contends that despite
the state's commitment in the 2014-15 Budget Act to fund early
childhood learning and child development, the California
Department of Education received over 32,000 applications for
state preschool and was unable to meet the demand. This bill
seeks to expand the state preschool for all eligible
low-income families.
2)Existing programs for 3- and 4- year olds. The State Preschool
program provides both part-day and full-day services that
offer age and developmentally appropriate curriculum to
children. The program prioritizes four-year-olds for
enrollment and may serve three-year-olds if space is available
after enrolling all eligible four-year-olds. The State
Preschool program also provides meals and snacks to children,
parent education, referrals to health and social services for
families, and staff development opportunities to employees.
The program is administered through local educational agencies
(LEAs), colleges, community-action agencies, and private
nonprofit agencies. State Preschool can be offered at a child
care center, a family child care network home, a school
district, or a county office of education. LEAs provide
preschool programs serving approximately two-thirds of all
children enrolled in State Preschool. While not all school
districts offer State Preschool, most school districts offer
transitional kindergarten to some four-year-olds.
Transitional kindergarten currently serves "older"
four-year-olds and "young" five-year-olds who have their fifth
birthday after the cut-off date for kindergarten (between
October 2 and December 2 for the current school year, and
between September 2 and December 2 beginning with the 2014-15
school year). Eligibility for transitional kindergarten is
limited to this cohort of students because they would have
been eligible for kindergarten under the previous entry-age.
Head Start and Early Head Start programs support children from
birth to age 5, in centers, child care partner locations, and
in their own homes. Three- and four-year-old preschoolers
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made up over 80 percent of the children served by Head Start
last year. Early Head Start services are provided for at
least six hours per day and Head Start preschool services may
be half-day or full-day. Like State Preschool, Head Start
provides wraparound services that include early learning,
health, and family well-being. Head Start programs prioritize
enrollment for children in foster care, children with
disabilities, and children whose families are homeless.
California's Head Start program is the largest in the nation
and is administered through a system of 74 grantees and 88
delegate agencies. The majority of these agencies also have
contracts with California Department of Education, to
administer general child care and/or State Preschool programs.
Many of the programs are located at the same site.
This bill seeks to strengthen the state's commitment to ensure
that children have access to preschool by providing preschool
to low-income families a year before enrolling in kindergarten
who are not served by Transitional Kindergarten, federal Head
Start, or State Preschool programs. This bill does not
appropriate funds for this purpose but makes the expansion of
preschool to all eligible children contingent upon the
appropriation of sufficient funding in the annual budget act.
This bill does not mandate preschool rather it attempts to
provide a space for those children whose parents wish to
enroll them.
3)Full day. This bill expresses legislative intent for funding for
preschool to be used to provide services for eligible
children, including augmenting State Preschool to provide
full-day, full-year learning for participants.
4)Related Budget Activity. The 2015 Budget Act restores funding
for 7,030 full-day preschool slots effective January 1, 2016,
of which 5,830 are for local education agencies (LEAs) and
1,200 are for non-LEA providers. The estimated cost for these
slots is $34.3 million ($30.9 million Proposition 98).
Finally, the budget agreement includes $12.1 million in
Proposition 98 funds for 2,500 additional part-day preschool
slots.
SUPPORT
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Advancement Project
Association of California School Administrators
Butte County Office of Education
Children Now
Early Edge California
Fight Crime Invest in Kids California
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles Universal Preschool
Lutheran Office of Public Policy California
Santa Clara County Office of Education
OPPOSITION
None received on this version.
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