BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 47 (McCarty) - State preschool program.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Version: July 2, 2015 |Policy Vote: ED. 6 - 1 |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: This bill requires that by January 1, 2017, all
children eligible for state subsidized child development
services that do not have access to transitional kindergarten
(TK) or the federal Head Start program, have access to the state
preschool program the year before they enter kindergarten,
contingent upon funding in the annual Budget Act. This bill
also provides Legislative intent that funds be allocated to
expand the state preschool program to provide full day, full
year preschool for all eligible low-income children, as
specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
Cost pressures in the low hundreds of millions to provide all
eligible children that do not have access to TK or the federal
Head Start program access to the state preschool program the
year before they enter kindergarten. A separate provision in
the bill that provides Legislative intent for State Preschool
AB 47 (McCarty) Page 1 of
?
expansion could create cost pressures of over one billion
depending on its interpretation. See staff comments.
(General Fund and Proposition 98)
Administrative costs to the California Department of Education
(CDE) of 8.0 positions and about $917,000, including travel
costs for additional site visits. (General Fund)
Background: Existing law establishes the 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. Existing law requires that
first priority go to three- or four-year-old neglected or abused
children who are recipients of child protective services, or who
are at risk of being neglected, abused, or exploited upon
written referral from a legal, medical, or social service
agency. After this priority is satisfied then the next priority
is given to eligible four-year-old children who are not enrolled
in a state-funded TK program before enrolling eligible
three-year-old children. (Education Code § 8235 and 8236) The
General Child Care program provides the remainder of a full-day
program as well as additional days of care.
Existing law defines TK as the first year of a two year
kindergarten program that uses a modified kindergarten
curriculum that is age and developmentally appropriate, and
requires schools, as a condition of receiving apportionments for
TK, to admit a child who will have their fifth birthday between
September 2 and December 2. (EC § 48000 (d))
Head Start programs support children from birth to age five, in
centers, child care partner locations, and in their own homes.
Three- and four-year-old preschoolers made up over 80 percent of
the children served by Head Start last year. Head Start
preschool services may be half-day or full-day. Like the state
preschool program, 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. The state's Head Start program is the largest in
the nation and is administered through a system of 74 grantees
AB 47 (McCarty) Page 2 of
?
and 88 delegate agencies. The majority of these agencies also
have contracts with the CDE to administer general child care
and/or State Preschool programs. Many of the programs are
located at the same site.
Existing law requires a child to be admitted to kindergarten if
the child will have his or her fifth birthday on or before
September 1 of the school year. (EC § 48000)
The Budget Act of 2014 provided $67 million to add 7,500
full-day, full-year State Preschool slots and an additional $3
million for 4,000 more slots beginning June 15, 2015. The
Budget Act of 2015 restores funding for 7,030 full-day preschool
slots effective January 1, 2016 for an estimated cost of $34.3
million ($30.9 million Proposition 98). The budget also
includes $12.1 million in Proposition 98 funds for 2,500
additional part-day preschool slots.
Proposed Law:
This bill requires that by January 1, 2017, all eligible
children, as specified, that do not have access to TK or the
federal Head Start program, have access to the state preschool
program the year before they enter kindergarten, if their
parents wish to enroll them and contingent upon funding in the
annual Budget Act.
This bill also provides Legislative intent that: (1) all
low-income children have access to either a state preschool
program or TK, and (2) funds be 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 state preschool, TK, or the federal Head Start
program.
Related
Legislation: SB 858 (Chapter 32, Statutes of 2014), the
education omnibus trailer bill, included Legislative intent: (1)
to provide quality preschool opportunities for all low-income
children whose families wish to enroll them, and (2) that the
state provide all low-income four-year-old children from working
AB 47 (McCarty) Page 3 of
?
families with full-day, full-year early education and care.
Staff
Comments: This bill guarantees all eligible children access to
the state preschool program the year before they enter
kindergarten if the following apply: (1) they do not have access
to TK or the federal Head Start program; (2) their parents wish
to enroll them; and (3) if there is an appropriation in the
annual Budget Act for this purpose. Ultimately, costs will
depend on the number of children currently not being served,
funding made available, and parental choice. Assuming half of
the approximately 35,000 eligible four-year-olds in California
not served by TK, the state preschool program, or federal Head
Start would qualify and receive full-day, full-year preschool
(at a rate of $9,633) and the other half would receive part-day
preschool (at a rate of $4,177), costs could be roughly $240
million.
This bill also provides Legislative intent that funds be
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 state preschool,
TK, or the federal Head Start program. This provision could be
interpreted to expand full-day preschool to all eligible
three-year-olds, in conflict with the provision described above.
Including three-year-olds could require an additional roughly
$740 million, assuming half are eligible for full-day preschool.
However, because this provision specifically calls out
full-day, full-year preschool, intent could be interpreted to
provide full-day, full-year preschool to all low-income children
regardless of whether the family establishes a need, such as the
parents working. This interpretation would significantly
increase cost pressures by roughly another $387 million.
Depending on how this provision is interpreted, cost pressures
could range significantly from the high hundreds of millions to
over one billion.
This bill is related to the Legislative intent provided in SB
858, though not identical. One main difference appears to be
that this bill includes intent to provide full day, full year
preschool to both eligible three- and four-year-olds whereas SB
858 seems to only apply to four-year-olds. It is unclear how
intent language of SB 858 and this bill would interact with one
AB 47 (McCarty) Page 4 of
?
another.
The CDE indicates that this bill would likely drive
administrative costs of about 8.0 positions and over $900,000,
ongoing. With these positions, the CDE would address such
things as increases in the number of contracts, apportionments,
and the need for technical assistance; and workload related to
verifying eligibility and attendance, site visits, and contract
monitoring. The CDE would issue a request for applications for
available funding for state preschool slots and then allocate
funds to qualified contractors.
It is unclear what the response would be from the field and
whether they will be able to provide additional children
preschool services, as required by this bill, if funding is
provided in the budget. Also, the expanded access to preschool
could drive cost pressures at the local level for such things as
additional facilities for instruction to take place.
-- END --