BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 30
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 6, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 30 (Simitian) - As Amended: March 25, 2011
SENATE VOTE : 23-13
SUBJECT : Kindergarten: age of admission and readiness
SUMMARY : Extends the sunset of the final report for the
Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Program from January 1, 2012 to
January 1, 2013 and makes minor, nonsubstantive changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Program, which
permits school districts, until July 1, 2013, to participate
in a program to increase a child's readiness for school by
delaying entry to kindergarten for children with fall
birthdays and enrolling, instead, in a kindergarten readiness
program. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) to administer the program with assistance from an
advisory panel with specified members. Appropriates $100,000
from the fiscal year 2000-01 budget for the SPI to administer
an information campaign and for operating costs. Requires the
SPI to contract for an independent longitudinal evaluation of
the effect of delaying entry to kindergarten and requires an
initial report to be due on June 1, 2009, an interim report to
be due on January 1, 2011, and the final report on January 1,
2012. Sunsets the program on July 1, 2013 and is repealed on
January 1, 2014. (Education Code (EC) 48005.10 - 48005.55)
2)Specifies the following dates by which a child must turn five
to enroll in kindergarten maintained by a school district:
a) On or before December 2 for the 2011-12 school year.
b) On or before November 1 for the 2012-13 school year.
c) On or before October 1 for the 2013-14 school year.
d) On or before September 1 for the 2014-15 school year and
each school year thereafter. (EC 48000)
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3)Specifies that as a condition of receipt of apportionment for
pupils in a transitional kindergarten program, a school
district or charter school shall ensure that a child is
admitted to a transitional kindergarten (TK) program
maintained by the school district as follows:
a) In the 2012-13 school year, a child will have his or her
fifth birthday between November 2 and December 2;
b) In the 2013-14 school year, a child will have his or her
fifth birthday between October 2 and December 2; and,
c) In the 2014-15 school year and each school year
thereafter, a child will have his or her fifth birthday
between September 2 and December 2. (EC 48000)
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)
5)Subjects children between the ages of six and 18 years to
compulsory full-time education unless exempted pursuant to
prescribed provisions of law. (EC 48200)
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : Until the enactment of SB 1381 (Simitian), Chapter
705, Statutes of 2010, California was one of only four states
with a late birthdate cutoff of December 2nd for entry to
kindergarten. SB 1381 moves up the date by which a child must
turn five one month per year over three years. Beginning with
the 2012-13 school year, a child must turn 5 by November 1st;
October 1st in 2013-14 and by the 2014-15 school year, a child
must be five years old on or before September 1st in order to
start kindergarten. Corresponding birthdate changes were made
for first grade enrollment.
The bill also authorized the establishment of
district-administered TK programs for children displaced as a
result of the birthdate change. TK is a critical component of
delaying entry to kindergarten to ensure that these children
have access to curriculum in a classroom setting that will
prepare them not only academically but behaviorally and socially
for kindergarten. The legislation did not specify how TK
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programs are to be implemented except to require TK programs to
use a modified kindergarten curriculum that is age and
developmentally appropriate. A handful of districts have
started TK programs. Districts that choose to implement TK
programs receive revenue limit apportionment.
There had been many attempts over the prior 13 years to change
the law governing age of entry to kindergarten. As part of that
effort, in 2000, AB 25 (Mazzoni), Chapter 1022, Statutes of
2000, enacted the Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Program whereby
districts can move the date by which a child must turn 5 from
December 2nd to September 1st and establish a kindergarten
readiness program for displaced children. The SPI, in
consultation with an advisory committee, would select districts
interested in participating in the program and award grants to
cover the costs of developing and operating the kindergarten
readiness program, including a one-time incentive grant to make
up for reduced revenue limit apportionment as a result of fewer
children in the kindergarten class. The bill also appropriated
$100,000 in the 2000-01 budget for a public information campaign
to advertise the program and for operating expenses. The bill
further required the SPI to contract for an independent
evaluator to evaluate the effects of delaying entry to
kindergarten and identified a long list of factors for
evaluation, including academic and behavioral effects. However,
the funds were not appropriated and the pilot program was not
implemented. This bill extends the date by which a final report
is required to be submitted to the Legislature, the Governor,
the State Board of Education and the Secretary for Education
from January 1, 2012 to January 1, 2013.
Since the pilot program was never implemented, there is no need
for this report and therefore, no need to extend the sunset
date. The author's office states that this bill is a
placeholder for any issues that may need to be addressed
legislatively regarding the implementation of the TK program.
According to the author's office, no issues have been identified
thus far. The author requests passage of this vehicle in case
an issue surfaces.
If the Committee chooses to past this bill, staff recommends
requesting the bill to be returned to the Committee for
deliberation if the bill is amended.
California Right to Life Committee opposes this bill as it
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opposed SB 1381. The organization does not support delaying
entry to kindergarten and questions the benefits of preschool.
Related legislation . SB 634 (Runner), introduced this year,
prohibits a school district from initiating a transitional
kindergarten program unless the Department of Finance has
certified that sufficient funds exist to initiate transitional
kindergarten programs in all school districts that can enroll
eligible children and requires a district to have a positive
financial certification prior to initiating a transitional
kindergarten program. SB 634 failed passage in the Senate
Education Committee and has been granted reconsideration.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
California Right to Life Committee
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087