BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 837 (Steinberg) - Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2014
Amended: April 22, 2014 Policy Vote: Education
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 23, 2014 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
SUSPENSE FILE. AS AMENDED.
Bill Summary: SB 837 expands eligibility for transitional
kindergarten (TK) to all 4-year-olds, phased in over 4 years,
and fully implemented by the 2019-2020 school year.
Fiscal Impact (as approved on May 23, 2014): The most
substantial costs of this bill will be enrollment costs to
expand Pre-Kindergarten. The expansion is contingent on the
availability of Budget funding, and potential fee revenue. State
costs will also depend on the degree to which children who
access Pre-K would have participated in another child care
program absent this bill, and the degree of state financial
participation in that program.
Average Daily Attendance (ADA): Potentially substantial
increase in ADA costs, likely in the hundreds of millions of
dollars annually, to expand full and part-day pre-school
programs. Enrollment is likely to increase substantially
over time as families become aware of their program
eligibility, and the process is streamlined.
Facilities: Unknown, potentially substantial costs to
schools to construct new classrooms or purchase portables.
Teacher qualifications: Potentially substantial state cost
pressure to ensure capacity in California community colleges
(CCCs) and public university teacher credentialing programs
to provide the training that teachers and paraprofessionals
will require by 2021.
State administration: Significant costs, likely in the
hundreds of thousands of dollars for the California
Department of Education (CDE) to promulgate regulations,
provide technical assistance to LEAs, and collaborate with
the CTC on a workforce development plan. The CDE also
estimates that it would require 2 PYs at the Education
Programs Consultant level to staff the regulation
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promulgation process, which could take 6-12 months.
Professional development: Significant local cost pressure.
Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPS): Potentially
significant local costs (and state cost pressure) to
incorporate this program into an LEA's LCAP.
California State Preschool Program (CSPP): Potentially
substantial costs to meet higher quality standards and
training requirements, and to increase the reimbursement
rate for certain programs.
Background: Existing law requires a child to be admitted to
kindergarten if the child will have his or her 5th 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; or, d) September 1 of
the 2014-15 school year and each year thereafter. (Education
Code � 48000)
Existing law defines TK as the first year of a 2-year
kindergarten program that uses a modified kindergarten
curriculum that is age and developmentally appropriate, and
requires schools, as a condition of receiving apportionments for
transitional kindergarten, to admit to TK: a) in the 2012-13
school year, a child who will have his or her 5th birthday
between November 2 and December 2; b) in the 2013-14 school
year, a child who will have his or her 5th birthday between
October 2 and December 2; and, c) in the 2014-15 school year,
and each year thereafter, a child who will have his or her 5th
birthday between September 2 and December 2. (EC � 48000 (d))
Existing law establishes the CSPP for purposes of providing
part-day and full-day developmentally appropriate programs
designed to facilitate the transition to kindergarten for 3 and
4-year old children in educational development, health services,
social services, nutritional services, parent education and
participation, evaluation, and staff development. (EC � 8235)
Proposed Law: This bill expands eligibility for TK to all 4-year
olds, phased in over a 4-year period beginning in the 2015-16
school year, and establishes requirements for program
implementation.
With regard to participation, this bill:
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1) Requires a school district or charter school that offers
kindergarten to make TK available to all eligible children
and allow, to the greatest extent possible, a parent of an
eligible child to choose the TK that the child attends.
2) Expands eligibility for TK in specified phases, ultimately
requiring a child to be admitted to a TK class if the child
will have his or her 4th birthday on or before September 1
of the 2019-20 school year and each school year thereafter.
3) Authorizes a school district or charter school to contract
with a public local agency including but not limited to an
LEA, a COE, or a private local provider, or both, to
provide TK, if both of the following are satisfied: a) the
school district or charter school is responsible for
oversight and administration of TK, as specified; and, b)
the TK provided by a public agency or private provider is
under the exclusive management and control of the governing
board of the school district or charter school that
administers the contract.
With regard to curriculum, this bill:
1) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI)
to develop, and the State Board of Education (SBE) to
adopt, by January 30, 2016, TK standards that include but
are not limited to the 9 developmental domains that are
included in the California Preschool Learning Foundations
(CPLF).
2) Requires the SBE, by January 30, 2017, to modify the
frameworks, if appropriate, to align them with the TK
standards and ensure that those standards are incorporated
into the curricular frameworks.
3) Authorizes the SBE to adopt instructional materials
aligned with the TK standards in English language arts
(ELA), including English language development (ELD),
mathematics, science, and history-social science by
September 30, 2017.
4) Requires the SBE, during the next revision of the
frameworks to modify those frameworks, if appropriate, to
align them with the TK standards and ensure that those
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standards are incorporated into the frameworks.
With regard to staff qualifications, this bill:
1) Requires, by July 1, 2015, all TK classes to be taught
by a teacher who possesses one of the following permits or
credentials issued by the CTC:
a) A teaching permit or higher, authorizing
service in the care, development, and instruction in
child care development programs. This bill requires
teachers with this permit to have a professional
learning plan to obtain a baccalaureate degree with at
least 24 units in early childhood education (ECE) or
child development, or a combination of both, and a
multiple subject teaching credential by July 1, 2019.
b) A multiple subject credential with an
authorization to teach prekindergarten to grade 12.
c) An elementary (multiple subject) credential.
d) A single subject credential in home economics.
1) Requires, by July 1, 2019, all TK classes to be taught
by a teacher who holds a baccalaureate degree with at least
24 units in ECE or child development, or a combination of
both, and a teaching credential.
2) Requires, by July 1, 2015, all TK to include a
paraprofessional who possess an assistant permit or higher,
issued by the CTC, authorizing service in the care,
development, and instruction in child care and development
programs. This bill requires paraprofessionals with this
permit to have a professional learning plan to obtain a
teacher permit issued by the CTC by July 1, 2019.
3) Requires, by July 1, 2019, all TK paraprofessionals to
have a teacher permit with at least 24 units in ECE or
child development, or a combination of both.
With regard to collective bargaining, this bill: 1) authorizes
employees of a private provider have the ability to establish
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collective bargaining rights; and, 2) requires all TK
paraprofessionals to be considered classified employees, as
specified.
With regard to class size and staffing, this bill: 1) beginning
with the 2015-16 school year, requires TK to be taught by at
least 1 teacher and 1 paraprofessional, and limits the class
size to 20 pupils; and, 2) requires, beginning with the 2015-16
school year, TK teachers and paraprofessionals to be considered
full-time employees (for purposes of compensation, including
salary and benefits), subject to specified collective bargaining
exceptions.
With regard to facilities, this bill: 1) Provides that TK
programs operated by a school district or a charter school are
eligible for school facilities funding; and, 2) encourages
public agencies and private providers to seek shared use
agreements with a broad array of public and private entities, as
specified.
With regard to funding, this bill:
1) Requires, beginning with the 2015-16 school year, TK
programs to receive 2/3 of the per-student base grant per
unit of ADA, as adjusted for inflation, plus an additional
adjustment of 10.4%, and a supplemental grant add-on.
2) Requires federal funding for preschool and state funding
annually appropriated for state preschool programs to be
used to provide services for eligible 3, 4, and 5-year-old
children, including augmenting TK to provide full-day,
full-year learning and child care services for
participants. This bill requires TK funds to supplement,
and not supplant, federal and state funding for existing
child care and development programs.
This bill requires, by July 1, 2015, each county superintendent
of schools to conduct a review of the level of access to TK,
state preschool, and Head Start provided to eligible children
within the county. This bill requires the review to include but
not be limited to a description of the plans of the school
districts and charter schools to make TK available to all
eligible children by the 2019-20 school year, and requires the
county superintendent to post the results of the review on the
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COE's website.
This bill also requires the CTC, in collaboration with the SPI,
the CCC, the CSU, private postsecondary educational
institutions, and the UC (if it chooses to participate) to
establish a workforce development plan for TK teachers and
paraprofessionals that recommends the steps necessary to provide
adequate opportunities for existing ECE educators to obtain the
necessary qualifications by July 1, 2019.
The SPI is also required to develop, by July 31, 2016,
regulations necessary to implement transitional kindergarten,
and incorporate existing regulations and guidelines as
appropriate. This bill authorizes the SBE to adopt emergency
regulations, and required the Board to revise the local control
and accountability plan (LCAP) template to include any changes
necessary to reflect the provision of TK.
This bill requires school district and charter school offering
TK to provide public notice of the availability of TK, as
specified.
Related Legislation: SB 1123 (Liu) would establish Strong Start
early learning and care services for infants and toddlers that,
among other things, modifies staffing ratios and requires, by
July 1, 2019, providers to have at least one teacher in each
classroom that holds a child development teacher permit. That
bill will also be heard in this Committee on May 19, 2014.
SB 1381 (Simitian) Ch. 705/2010 changed the date by which a
child is required to be admitted to kindergarten at the
beginning of the school year, and created a "transitional"
kindergarten program - the first year of a two-year kindergarten
program that uses a modified kindergarten curriculum that is age
and developmentally appropriate - for those pupils impacted by
the change in age of admission date
Staff Comments:
ADA increase
This bill creates an entitlement, but not a requirement, for
every 4-year-old in the state to enroll in TK. It creates a
requirement for every school district that offers elementary
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school (which is all elementary and unified school districts)
and every charter school that has elementary school grades to
provide TK to any 4-year-old who enrolls. The current TK program
is limited to a small subset of 4-year-olds (by birthday), and
many charter schools did not offer TK until the current
(2013-14) school year, due to a disagreement over whether or not
they were required to offer TK.
Parent choice will ultimately determine the cost of this bill.
All parents/guardians will have to option of enrolling their
4-year-olds in public school for an additional grade. Parents
may choose to keep their children at home until kindergarten, to
use various child care options, or to enroll them in private
pre-school programs. The extent to which parents decide to
enroll their children in TK will determine the ultimate cost
(though, LEAs will incur costs to establish TK classes
beforehand based on projected enrollment). It is likely that if
TK is successful, or at least perceived to be of similar or
better quality than other options (such as private pre-school),
more parents will choose to enroll their children in free,
public education.
Curriculum
This bill requires the development and adoption of TK content
standards in the 9 developmental domains of the CPLF. The CDE
estimates a cost of $680,000 to complete the standards adoption
process. Pursuant to this bill, the Instructional Quality
Commission (IQC) would (through contract writers) then modify
curriculum frameworks for all 9 domains and incorporate TK
content into 4 existing curriculum frameworks. The CDE would
require nearly $900,000 for the framework revision and adoption
process.
If the SBE decided to adopt math and ELA) / ELD instructional
materials for TK, that process would cost approximately
$800,000. LEAs would, in turn, have substantial cost pressure to
purchase instructional materials.
Data
The CDE has indicated that any changes to CALPADs could be done
within existing resources, primarily because LCFF implementation
has required a number of changes that the CDE is in the process
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of making to CALPADs. Typically, the CDE has indicated that a
significant change to CALPADs costs tens of thousands of
dollars.
Facilities
The degree to which schools will require additional space and/or
modifications to their physical sites to provide TK is unclear.
Many schools districts have expressed concern about having
adequate facilities to house an influx of new pupils. To the
extent that schools have to purchase portables or construct
additional classrooms, there will be local costs. This also
increases cost pressure to pass a new school facilities bond.
The last statewide school facilities bond was passed in 2006.
Contracting with private providers
In order to help address both facility and personnel capacity
issues, this bill allows LEAs to contract with private local
providers to share private providers' physical space and/or to
actually provide TK to the LEA's students. In order to do so,
however, the private provider has to agree to various rules
including being considered a "public school employer" for the
purpose of collective bargaining rights, and being "under the
exclusive management and control of the governing board of the
school district, or governing body of the charter school, that
administers the contract."
The degree to which private providers will be willing to enter
into such agreements, and at what cost, is unclear. It will
likely vary locally, and year-by-year, depending on whether it
is financially advantageous overall for a private provider to do
so. To the extent that LEAs are attracted to this option, they
will likely incur increased legal costs to draft and advise on
contracts. The CDE will likely need to provide active, ongoing
guidance to LEAS on these issues.
Teacher qualifications
This bill establishes professional standards for TK teachers and
paraprofessionals, which include credentialing, degree, and ECE
unit standards, that are beyond what is typically required of
"pre-school" teachers and teaching assistants. The requirements
are staggered until 2019, in order to give teachers and
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paraprofessionals time to meet new requirements, and LEAs time
to ensure they can hire staff who meet all of the requirements.
The new requirements would apply to thousands (and potentially
tens of thousands) of individuals who would be seeking new
training/education, and create state cost pressure to ensure
capacity in CCCs and in teacher credentialing programs at the
other segments.
Workforce Development Plan
In order to help address the training issue, this bill requires
the CTC, in collaboration with the SPI, the CCC, the California
State University, private postsecondary educational
institutions, and (request) the University of California, to
establish a workforce development plan for transitional
kindergarten teachers and paraprofessionals, and the
administrators who supervise them, that recommends the steps
necessary to provide adequate opportunities for existing early
childhood educators to obtain the necessary qualifications on or
before July 1, 2019. This requirement will significantly
increase CTC workload, and create minor increased workload for
the other participating entities. The plan itself is likely to
create significant costs pressure to implement its
recommendations.
Notification mandate
This bill requires LEAs to provide public notice of the
availability of TK "using a variety of strategies to reach and
inform families living in areas of poverty or high linguistic
diversity, including, but not limited to, providing information
through schoolsite councils, school advisory groups, community
organizations, and parent meetings." This requirement creates a
significant state reimbursable mandate on LEAs for their TK
outreach and notification activities.
Author's amendments recast this bill as the "California
Pre-Kindergarten Program", with specific requirements for LEAs
to providing certain programming, and to meet quality standards.
The statewide Pre-K program would target low-income and English
learner 4-year-olds, would specify eligibility requirements, and
require the expansion to be funded annually by the Legislature.
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