BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2203
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 9, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2203 (V. Manuel Perez) - As Amended: April 24, 2012
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:6-4
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill, commencing with the 2014-15 school year, changes the
age a person becomes subject to compulsory education from six to
five. This change makes a child's enrollment in kindergarten
mandatory.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Due to creation of a new mandate, GF/98 state reimbursable
mandated costs, in the tens of millions to hundreds of
millions, to require children to enroll in kindergarten. For
example, a school district that currently enrolls 1,000
kindergarteners may claim teacher salary costs of
approximately $2 million GF/98 to meet the requirements of
this bill.
Because this bill creates a mandate for kindergarten, school
districts may seek state reimbursement for costs associated
with establishing kindergarten classes, including teacher
salaries and instructional materials, regardless if they are
currently receive revenue limit (general purpose) or
categorical funding for this purpose. In an analogous
situation, the Commission on State Mandates (CSM) determined
that when the state added the completion of science classes as
a requirement for high school graduation in the 1980s, the
state created state reimbursable mandated costs and districts
could claim direct and indirect costs to provide these classes
(regardless if they were already providing these science
classes). According to the Legislative Analyst Office (LAO),
the state owes approximately $2 billion in prior year claims
and approximately $200 million annually for this mandate.
2)Even if the CSM does not determine this bill to be a state
AB 2203
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reimbursable mandate, there would be increased GF/98 revenue
limit (general purpose) costs of $45.6 million to the state
for increased kindergarten attendance due to the compulsory
education requirement.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, "The focus of kindergarten
instruction has changed significantly over the past 15 years.
Kindergarten used to focus primarily on the development of
children's socialization and behavior. Today, kindergarten is
the new first grade. Academic standards in kindergarten and
subsequent grade levels continue to become increasingly
rigorous due to state and federal requirements. By the end of
kindergarten, students are expected to have developed a
variety of foundational skills necessary for success in future
grade levels, yet the state does not require students to
attend kindergarten. A child's attendance in kindergarten
impacts his or her academic performance for years to come."
2)Background . Existing law does not require children to attend
kindergarten. Current law makes each person between the age
of six and 18 subject to full-time compulsory education,
unless otherwise exempted. Each child is required to attend
school full-time or the length of the school day designated by
the governing board of the school district in which the
residency of the parent/legal guardian is located. Likewise,
each parent/guardian is required to send the pupil to school,
as specified.
SB 1381 (Simitian), 705, Statutes of 2010 specifies if a child
attends kindergarten, he or she must be admitted if the child
will have his or her fifth birthday according to 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; and September 1 of the 2014-15 and each school
year thereafter.
Current law also authorizes the governing board of a school
district, on a case-by-case basis and with parent/guardian
approval, to admit a child who is five years old any time
during the school year to kindergarten if specified conditions
exist.
Statute also requires a child to be admitted to first grade,
if he or she will have his or her sixth birthday according to
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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; and (d) September 1 of the 2014-15
school year and each school year thereafter.
3)Need ? In the 2010-11 school year, 471,918 children were
enrolled in kindergarten and 477,277 children were enrolled in
first grade. According to the State Department of Education
(SDE), less than 5% of children do not attend kindergarten.
Assuming two percent of children enrolled in first grade do
not attend kindergarten, less than 10,000 children are not
attending kindergarten.
Current law does not require make enrollment in kindergarten
compulsory and as such, school districts cannot claim state
reimbursable costs for providing kindergarten instruction. If
there are such a small number who are not attending
kindergarten, is there a need to make it compulsory and create
a state GF/98 reimbursable mandate?
4)Unpaid K-12 mandates . According to LAO, the state owes
approximately $3.4 billion in K-12 mandate costs for prior
years (not including the high school graduation mandate).
Prior to the 2010 Budget Act, the state deferred mandate
payments for several years with the promise of making the
payments to school districts in future years. As a result,
districts did not received payment for annual services they
were required to conduct.
SB 90 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 7,
Statutes of 2011 allocated $80 million GF/98 to school
districts for annual K-12 mandate costs; the state, however,
still owes school districts for the prior year costs.
5)Related legislation . AB 1772 (Buchanan), beginning with the
2014-15 school year, requires a child to complete one year of
kindergarten before he or she may be admitted to first grade.
This bill is pending in this committee.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081