BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1444
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 7, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1444 (Buchanan) - As Amended: April 22, 2014
Policy Committee: EducationVote:6-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill, starting in the 2016-17 school year, requires a child
to complete one year of kindergarten before he or she may be
admitted to first grade.
FISCAL EFFECT
The California Department of Education (CDE) estimates that
approximately 28,000 students were not enrolled in kindergarten
or any grade in 2010-11. These students did not attend
kindergarten and instead went straight into 1st grade upon
enrollment in school. CDE does not track data on private schools
therefore it is not known how many of the 28,000 children
attended private kindergarten and would meet the requirements of
the bill.
CDE estimates a per ADA rate of $8,221 in 2016-17 for
kindergarten. This rate assumes: 16% of the total LCFF grant at
full implementation is allocated to concentration and
supplemental grants, an average annual COLA of 2%, and about 88%
of the target towards full implementation of the Local Control
Funding Formula would be funded by 2016-17.
For illustration, assuming 15,000 students start school not
having completed one year of kindergarten, using an ADA rate of
$8,221, the state would incur ongoing GF/Proposition 98 costs of
approximately $123.3 million.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose . Research supports the importance of early childhood
education. Supporters of the bill, including the California
AB 1444
Page 2
Teachers Association, note that the new Common Core State
Standards have academic expectations for kindergarten
students. If children do not attend kindergarten, they begin
first grade behind and may finish high school behind. The
author contends this bill ensures all children begin first
grade with the foundation for future success, while providing
parents the flexibility to determine when the child is
developmentally ready for kindergarten.
2)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-old by September 1 for
the 2014-15 school year and every year thereafter.
3)An extra year of school for an older cohort of pupils . Current
law requires a child be admitted to the first grade of an
elementary school as long as the child will be six-years-old
by September 1 for the 2014-15 school year and every year
thereafter. This bill changes this requirement to now only
admit the child to first grade if they have completed one year
of kindergarten. As a result, the bill could mean districts
would need to provide an additional year of school to an older
cohort of children.
4)Previous legislation . AB 1772 (Buchanan), held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense File in 2012, was
identical to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081