Update on Transitional Kindergarten and the Governor’s Budget Proposal
Update on Transitional Kindergarten and the Governor’s Budget Proposal
Some important updates have occurred this week, including the release of the budget trailer bill on Wednesday, Feb. 1, which signal intent and offer guidance on transitional kindergarten from both the Brown Administration and the California Assembly.
The Administration’s Latest Position:
- The Administration has just posted their
trailer bill language (trailer bills contain the statutory changes necessary to
implement the State Budget). The language specific to transitional
kindergarten is on pages 13-14 of the omnibus education trailer bill.
www.dof.ca.gov/budgeting/trailer_bill_language/education/documents/ - The trailer bill language maintains the new cut-off dates (Nov. 1 in 2012-13, Oct. 1 in 2013-14, and Sep. 1 in 2013-14 and each year thereafter) and reverts the rest of the law back to how it was prior to the passage of the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 (SB 1381) making transitional kindergarten a local option rather than a mandate. Then, in order to make sure that districts would receive full funding to serve children with fall birthdays, a change is made to the early admissions section [48000(b)] to allow children turning five after the cut-off to be admitted “at the beginning of the school year.” Additional note: It also appears, though we assume it is unintentional, that this would allow ALL 4 year olds who turn 5 during the school year to be eligible for ADA at the beginning of the year.
Our Response:
- We are pleased that the Administration has moved away from its original proposal and is now allowing districts who choose to offer transitional kindergarten to collect full ADA for those children no longer eligible for kindergarten.
- This is great news for the over 100 hundred schools districts that have already stated publicly they intend to implement TK despite the Governor’s proposal.
- However, the governor’s proposal still denies 125,000 children the right to kindergarten. It creates chaos and uncertainty for families who were excited to send their children to kindergarten this fall.
- For this reason, we continue to reject the governor’s proposal and call on the Legislature and the governor to follow the law as put forth in the Kindergarten Readiness Act (SB 1381), which created transitional kindergarten.
Other Political Developments:
- Both Chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Susan Bonilla, and Chair of the Assembly Committee on Education Julia Brownley, made strong statements in their opposition to the Brown Administration’s proposal to eliminate transitional kindergarten.
- The Department of Finance testified that school districts need to continue to follow the law (SB 1381), but position themselves for potential changes.
- The Department of Finance testified that their intent is to make transitional kindergarten voluntary and not mandatory for districts, and to allow them to collect ADA for TK-eligible students for the entire school year.
Where is the Assembly on TK?
Both the Chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Susan Bonilla, and Chair of the Assembly Committee on Education Julia Brownley, brought up the proposed cut to Transitional Kindergarten during the Assembly Committee on Budget hearing on Jan. 31. Assemblymember Bonilla stated, “We saw in the newspaper that San Francisco Unified has decided they’re just going to cancel transitional kindergarten, they’re not going to do it. And that’s of really grave concern. For one thing, it’s the law, and the legislature passed that law. And I think we certainly expect our school districts to be implementing it, and we want to continue along that path. It’s probably the single bright spot in education in the last number of years. And there’s been a tremendous investment already in a number of districts as well. ”
Assemblymember Brownley released a quote stating, “My support for moving the birthdate back for entry into kindergarten was contingent on the establishment of transitional kindergarten. Research clearly shows that children who attend high-quality early care and education programs are less likely to be held back in school, need remedial classes or drop out of school. This budget proposal would revoke that provision, subvert the intention of the legislation and jeopardize childrens’ success in school.”
The Department of Finance on how school districts should approach implementing TK in light of the Governor’s proposal to eliminate it:
Under questioning by Assemblymember Brownley during the Assembly Committee on Budget hearing on Jan. 31, the Department of Finance’s Deputy Director Michael Cohen states, “So, in terms of districts, kind of, reacting to the governor’s proposals, clearly a governor’s budget is not the power of the law changed. So, but, I think it’s an issue that’s constantly coming up, that districts, counties, cities are forced to sort of, kind of, react and position themselves for potential changes, but they obviously have to continue to follow the law.”
Department of Finance Testimony Clarifies Its Intent on Transitional Kindergarten:
Under questioning by Assemblymember Julia Brownley during the Assembly Committee on Budget hearing on Jan. 31, the Department of Finance’s Deputy Director Michael Cohen states, “In essence we would be not requiring districts to provide the transitional kindergarten, but allow them to continue to do as they have.”
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