BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1772
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 18, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 1772 (Buchanan) - As Amended: April 11, 2012
SUBJECT : Kindergarten
SUMMARY : Requires, beginning in the 2014-15 school year, a
child to complete one year of kindergarten before he or she may
be admitted to first grade.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Specifies that each person between the ages of 6 and 18 years,
unless otherwise exempted, is subject to compulsory full-time
education. Requires each person subject to compulsory
full-time education and each person subject to compulsory
continuation education to attend the public full-time day
school or continuation school or classes and for the full time
designated as the length of the schoolday by the governing
board of the school district in which the residency of either
the parent or legal guardian is located and each parent,
guardian, or other person having control or charge of the
pupil to send the pupil to the public full-time day school or
continuation school or classes and for the full time
designated as the length of the schoolday by the governing
board of the school district in which the residence of either
the parent or legal guardian is located. (Education Code (EC)
Section 48200)
2)Specifies that unless otherwise provided, a pupil shall not be
enrolled for less than the minimum schoolday established by
law. (EC Section 48200)
3)Requires that a child be admitted to a kindergarten at the
beginning of a school year, or at any time later in the same
year, if the child will have his or her fifth birthday on or
before one of the following dates:
a) December 2 of the 2011-12 school year.
b) November 1 of the 2012-13 school year.
c) October 1 of the 2013-14 school year.
d) September 1 of the 2014-15 school year and each school
year thereafter. (EC Section 48000)
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4)Authorizes the governing board of a school district
maintaining one or more kindergartens to, on a case-by-case
basis, admit to kindergarten a child having attained the age
of five years at any time during the school year with the
approval of the parent or guardian, subject to the following
conditions:
a) The governing board determines that the admittance is in
the best interests of the child.
b) The parent or guardian is given information regarding
the advantages and disadvantages and any other explanatory
information about the effect of this early admittance. (EC
48000)
5)Specifies that a child shall be admitted to the first grade of
an elementary school during the first month of a school year
if the child will have his or her sixth birthday on or before
one of the following dates:
a) December 2 of the 2011-12 school year.
b) November 1 of the 2012-13 school year.
c) October 1 of the 2013-14 school year.
d) September 1 of the 2014-15 school year and each school
year thereafter. (EC Section 48010)
6)Authorizes the attendance supervisor or his or her designee, a
peace officer, a school administrator or his or her designee,
or a probation officer to arrest or assume temporary custody,
during school hours, of any minor subject to compulsory
full-time education or to compulsory continuation education
found away from his or her home and who is absent from school
without valid excuse within the county, city, or city and
county, or school district. (EC Section 48264)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background . Under current law, compulsory education
begins at age 6 until age 18. Any person subject to compulsory
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 of age by December 2 for
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the 2011-12 school year, November 1 for the 2012-13 school year,
October 1 for the 2013-14 school year, and September 1 for the
2014-15 school year and every year thereafter.
In the 2010-11 school year, 471,918 pupils were enrolled in
kindergarten out of a total enrollment of 6,217,000. The
California Department of Education (CDE) also reports that
46,351 pupils attended private kindergarten programs in 2010-11.
The CDE estimates that between 90-95% of pupils eligible for
kindergarten actually attend kindergarten; leaving approximately
25,000 to 52,000 kids that do not attend kindergarten. The
Education Commission of the States report that, as of December
2010, 19 states, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands,
have mandatory kindergarten policies, including Arkansas,
Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Louisiana,
Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island,
South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and West
Virginia. The most recent state to mandate kindergarten is
Wisconsin, signed into law in 2009, with implementation
beginning with the 2011-12 school year. Of the 19, 11 have
compulsory education starting at age 5, the remaining eight
require students to attend school beginning age 6 or older.
This bill requires kids to attend kindergarten before enrolling
in first grade. The difference between this bill and AB 2203
(V. Manuel Perez), pending in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, is that AB 2203 requires all five years old to attend
kindergarten. This bill does not specify when kids have to
enroll in kindergarten, just simply that they must attend
kindergarten before entering first grade. The author believes
that all kids should be required to attend kindergarten but also
believes that parents should have the ability to hold their kids
back and start them at an older age. If this bill is enacted,
most kids will likely attend kindergarten at age 5. The
population that might be most affected by this bill are those
kids who skip kindergarten and start school in first grade. The
CDE reviewed data of kids enrolled in first grade in the 2011-12
school year but were not enrolled in kindergarten in 2010-11 and
found that 28,000, or 5.7% of kids entered the public school
system for the first time in first grade. It is unlikely that
all 28,000 skipped kindergarten; some of these kids may have
enrolled in private schools for kindergarten.
Another possible effect of this bill is that the age of kids in
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the kindergarten through grade 12 system will be older in every
grade. If all parents start their kids in kindergarten at age
6, then they will be older going into all the remaining grades.
Delaying kindergarten. Unlike AB 2203, this bill enables
parents to start their children in kindergarten at an older age.
The practice of holding kids back, called "redshirting,"
originates with the practice of holding back college football
players to allow the player to grow. Parents hold their kids
back for various reasons. Kids are held back in states with
late birthday cutoff dates to avoid enrollment at the age of
four. The concern is that four-year-old children may not be
developmentally or socially ready for kindergarten, especially
when, on the first day of school, kindergarten classrooms may
have a number of six-year-olds - kids who were held back a year
the prior year. In California, the change in the birthdate for
entry into kindergarten from December 2 to September 1 by the
2014-15 school year should address the four-year-old concern.
Other parents strategically hold their kids back because they
want their kids to benefit from the gift of age. Older kids may
have the advantage of being physically bigger, have more
advanced cognitive ability and more mature social skills. Older
kids may be seen as leaders and may be more academically
prepared. Research shows that white males from more affluent
families are more likely to be held back than other groups.
Benefits of kindergarten . The author states that a 2010 study,
"Who Benefits from Kindergarten? Evidence from the Introduction
of State Subsidization," shows that kindergarten has a positive
effect on those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. The
study looked at outcomes - both long and short term - in the
academic and labor markets based on the availability of public
school kindergarten in the United States and found that kids
from lower income families who attend kindergarten are less
likely to be below grade level through their academic careers
and earn wages 5% higher as adults.
Arguments in support . The author states, "We have avoided
lowering the age for compulsory attendance for a very specific
reason. There is no research of which we are aware that shows
that a child born on September 1st is going to perform better
than a child born on September 2nd. Yet, the child that turns 5
on September 1st is eligible for K, and the one born on
September 2nd is not. We believe that parents, often with input
from teachers, should be allowed to use their best judgment with
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respect to enrolling a young child in Kindergarten. There are
situations in which a child benefits by delaying enrollment
until the next school year when that child is better prepared
(developmentally, socially or in other ways) for Kindergarten.
This bill allows parents to retain that flexibility, but does
require that students attend Kindergarten and be enrolled in
school no later than their 6th birthday."
Arguments in opposition . The Independent Private Schools of
California states, "The amended version of this bill does
indirectly what the last version did directly, which is, force
children into school at age five, with the only alternative
being to graduate a year later. AB 1772 as amended will also
cost the state of California more money, which could be better
spent elsewhere within the education system. We oppose this for
all schools, but we especially oppose this requirement being
imposed on private schools."
Related legislation . AB 2203 (V. Manuel Perez), pending in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee, lowers the age of a person
subject to compulsory education from age 6 to age 5 and makes a
conforming change to the provision of law specifying exclusions
to compulsory education.
Previous related legislation . AB 1236 (Mullin) would have
lowered the age of compulsory education to from age 6 to age 5,
among other proposals. The bill was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee suspense file in 2008.
AB 634 (Wesson) would have applied the compulsory education law
to a child, and the parents and guardian of a child, between the
ages of five and six who is enrolled in a public school
kindergarten and attends the kindergarten for at least 30 days
during the school year. The bill was vetoed by Governor Gray
Davis.
SB 893 (Lee), would have lowered the age of compulsory education
from age 6 to age 5. The bill failed in the Senate Education
Committee in 1997.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
AB 1772
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Opposition
Independent Private Schools of California
Private School Advocacy Center
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087