BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 713
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
713 (Weber) - As Amended March 19, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY: This bill, starting with the 2017-18 school year,
requires a child to complete one year of kindergarten before he
or she may be admitted to first grade.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown Proposition 98/GF costs, beginning in
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2017, for increased average daily attendance (ADA), potentially
in the range of $100 million to $200 million.
According to the California Department of Education (CDE),
19,101 five-year-old children were not enrolled in public school
kindergarten programs in 2011-12. If these students were to
enroll in public kindergarten, they would generate ADA of
approximately $173 million. In 2012-13, 25,423 five-year-old
children were not enrolled in public kindergarten programs. If
these students were to enroll in public kindergarten, they would
generate ADA of approximately $200 million.
In addition to increased ADA, local education agencies may
experience increased facility costs to accommodate additional
student enrollment.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, the current voluntary status
of kindergarten allows parents to delay their child's entrance
into school until first grade, leaving that student unprepared
for the educational environment they will encounter in
elementary school. The new Common Core State Standards have
high academic performance expectations for students. If
children do not attend kindergarten, they begin first grade
behind socially and academically, which is likely to inhibit
their academic progress throughout their school careers. This
bill ensures that children will not start first grade behind,
while preserving parent choice by not changing the compulsory
age of education.
2)Background. Under current law, compulsory education begins at
age 6 until age 18. Any person subject to compulsory
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education found away from home without a valid excuse for not
attending school can be arrested by school officials or peace
or probation officers. Current law does not require a child
to attend kindergarten but requires school districts to admit
a pupil for kindergarten if a parent wishes to enroll a child
as long as the child will be five-years-old by September 1 for
the 2014-15 school year and every year thereafter.
3)Prior legislation. AB 1444 (Buchanan and Weber) of 2014 is
identical to this bill and was vetoed by Governor Brown. The
veto message stated:
Most children already attend kindergarten, and those that
don't may be enrolled in other
educational or developmental programs that are deemed
more appropriate for them by their
families.
I would prefer to let parents determine what is best for
their children, rather than mandate an entirely
new grade level.
AB 1772 (Buchanan) of 2012, is also identical to this bill. It
was held on the Suspense file in this committee.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
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