Story at a glance
- California’s Senate passed a bill that would mandate kindergarten for all children in the state.
- Currently, kindergarten is voluntary, but research has shown kids that do enroll have higher reading and math gains.
- An estimated 5 to 7 percent of students do not enroll in kindergarten in California in an average year and that number increased significantly during the pandemic.
California legislators are pushing to make kindergarten mandatory in the state as it sees a dip in school enrollment and aims to ensure all children get critical instruction at their earliest years of learning.
Introduced by state Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), Senate Bill 70 would require all students in California to complete one year of kindergarten before they can enter the first grade — currently only 19 states require kindergarten.
California would become the 20th state, with Rubio saying, “as a public school teacher for 17 years, I have witnessed the deterioration of impact on young students who miss out on fundamental early education.”
Leaving kindergarten voluntary can leave lots of students unprepared for full-time elementary school. The National Education Association (NEA) says children that attend full-day kindergarten have higher reading and math gains and it also offers social and emotional benefits to kids.
America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news.
However, COVID-19 seriously disrupted school enrollment across the country, with parents declining to send their children to schools to mitigate their risk of illness and avoid the challenging transition to virtual learning. School enrollment was down nearly 2 percent in California during the 2021-2022 school year, with a decrease of more than 110,000 students.
Since the 2014-2015 academic year, California has seen a steady decline in public school enrollment.
Currently, kids need to be 5-years-old in order to be eligible for kindergarten, with some places offering transitional programs for kids as young as four years old.
However, in California an estimated 5 to 7 percent of students do not enroll in kindergarten in an average year and that number increased significantly during the pandemic.
Kindergartners who miss 10 percent of school days or more have been shown to have lower academic performance by the time they reach the first grade, according to NEA.
SB 70 also highlights those children born in states with mandatory kindergarten are more likely to go to college, earn higher wages and are less likely to experience poverty as adults. The benefit is even greater for children who are Hispanic, Black, English language learners and from immigrant households and lower income families.
California’s House passed SB 70 on Aug. 18 and less than two weeks later on Aug. 29 it also passed in the Senate, now heading to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) desk. If signed into law, it would require every child in California to enroll in kindergarten starting with the 2024-2025 school year, with parents able to choose public or private options for their children.
Newsom previously signed legislation that will provide free pre-kindergarten to all four-year-olds in the state beginning this 2022-2023 school year, but it’s unclear if he’ll sign SB 70.
The state’s Department of Finance opposes the bill, with one legislative analysis putting the cost in the low hundreds of millions annually.
changing america copyright.
