SB 837, as introduced, Steinberg. Schools: transitional kindergarten.
Existing law authorizes a school district or charter school to maintain a transitional kindergarten program, and, as a condition of receipt of apportionments for pupils in a transitional kindergarten program, requires the school district or charter school to comply with specified minimum age requirements for pupils participating in the transitional kindergarten program. Existing law also specifies that a transitional kindergarten program shall not be construed as a new program or higher level of service.
This bill, the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2014, would instead require each school district or charter school that offers kindergarten to offer transitional kindergarten, and would require a child that meets specified minimum age requirements to be admitted to transitional kindergarten. The bill would authorize the average daily attendance of a school district to include the average daily attendance of pupils enrolled in transitional kindergarten and would require transitional kindergarten to receive a per pupil base grant for apportionment purposes, as specified. The bill would require transitional kindergarten to be taught by teachers and associate teachers who meet certain requirements, and would require transitional kindergarten to include specified elements that promote integration and alignment with the early learning and child care system and the elementary education system. The bill would require a school district or charter school offering transitional kindergarten to provide public notice of the availability of transitional kindergarten and to administer transitional kindergarten, as specified. The bill would authorize a school district or charter school administering transitional kindergarten to contract with a public local agency or private local provider, or both, to participate in the delivery of transitional kindergarten. The bill would require a private local provider participating in the delivery of transitional kindergarten to be considered a public school employer, as defined, for certain purposes. By requiring school districts and charter schools that offer kindergarten to offer transitional kindergarten, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
This act shall be known and may be cited as the 2Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2014.
(a) The Legislature finds and declare all of the
4following:
5(1) Recent reforms such as implementation of the common core
6state standards and the local control funding formula establish
7increased quality and greater equity in California’s public education
8system.
9(2) However, these reforms do not address the reality that an
10achievement gap among children is present well before children
11first step through the kindergarten classroom door.
12(3) Recent research shows that by the age of two, low-income
13children are six months behind in language development relative
P3 1to their higher income peers,
and that by age five, low-income
2children are more than two years behind their higher income peers
3in language development.
4(4) Research also shows that California children with the largest
5gaps in school readiness and achievement are the least likely to
6participate in any preschool and the least likely to attend
7high-quality preschool programs.
8(5) Only half of California’s low-income preschoolers benefit
9from existing state preschool programs or federal Head Start
10programs, and only one-quarter of all children are provided with
11transitional kindergarten.
12(6) Children who do not read proficiently by the end of third
13grade are four times less likely to graduate from high school on
14time.
15(7) Only 48% of California’s third graders tests proficient or
16
better in English language arts.
17(8) Nationally, more than 100 studies have shown that
18high-quality preschool significantly improves a child’s school
19readiness and school performance.
20(9) Numerous longitudinal studies have shown that high-quality
21transitional kindergarten programs decrease grade retention and
22special education placements and increase high school graduation
23rates, college enrollment rates, and earnings in adulthood.
24High-quality transitional kindergarten programs also decrease
25taxpayer costs on criminal justice and welfare.
26(10) If California were to invest in high-quality preschool
27programs, the savings in the prison system alone are estimated to
28reach $1.1 billion per year due to reducing the prison population
29by 13,000 prisoners.
30(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting the Kindergarten
31Readiness Act of 2014 to accomplish all of the following:
32(1) Make early childhood education in California a rational and
33efficient system so that all of California’s four-year-old children
34have access to a voluntary, high-quality transitional kindergarten
35program one year before enrolling in kindergarten.
36(2) More strategically use existing state and federal funds to
37provide full-day, developmentally appropriate services for
38four-year-old children from low-income families, and provide
39high-quality early learning and care to those children who need it
40the most.
P4 1(3) Ensure that children are four years of age by September 1
2in order to attend transitional kindergarten in that academic year.
3(4) Ensure that parents and guardians receive timely information
4from local educational agencies about the new age requirements
5for enrollment in transitional kindergarten that are implemented
6pursuant to this act.
Section 46300 of the Education Code is amended to
8read:
(a) In computing average daily attendance of a school
10district or county office of education, there shall be included the
11attendance of pupils while engaged in educational activities
12required of those pupils and under the immediate supervision and
13control of an employee of thebegin insert schoolend insert district or county officebegin insert of
14educationend insert who possessed a valid certification document, registered
15as required by law.
16(b) (1) For purposes of a work experience education program
17in a secondary school that meets the standards of the California
18State Plan
for Career Technical Education, “immediate
19supervision,” in the context of off-campus work training stations,
20means pupil participation in on-the-job training as outlined under
21a training agreement, coordinated by the school district under a
22state-approved plan, wherein the employer and certificated school
23personnel share the responsibility for on-the-job supervision.
24(2) The pupil-teacher ratio in a work experience program shall
25not exceed 125 pupils per full-time equivalent certificated teacher
26coordinator. This ratio may be waived by the state board pursuant
27to Article 3 (commencing with Section 33050) of Chapter 1 of
28Part 20 of Division 2 under criteria developed by the state board.
29(3) A pupil enrolled in a work experience program shall not be
30credited with more than one day of attendance per calendar day,
31and shall be a full-time pupil enrolled in regular classes that meet
32
the requirements of Section 46141 or 46144.
33(c) (1) For purposes of the rehabilitative schools, classes, or
34programs described in Section 48917 that require immediate
35supervision, “immediate supervision” means that the person to
36whom the pupil is required to report for training, counseling,
37tutoring, or other prescribed activity shares the responsibility for
38the supervision of the pupils in the rehabilitative activities with
39certificated personnel of thebegin insert schoolend insert district.
P5 1(2) A pupil enrolled in a rehabilitative school, class, or program
2shall not be credited with more than one day of attendance per
3calendar day.
4(d) (1) For purposes of computing the average daily
attendance
5of pupils engaged in the educational activities required of high
6school pupils who are also enrolled in a regional occupational
7center or regional occupational program, the school district shall
8receive proportional average daily attendance credit for those
9educational activities that are less than the minimum schoolday,
10pursuant to regulations adopted by the state board; however, none
11of that attendance shall be counted for purposes of computing
12attendance pursuant to Section 52324.
13(2) A school district shall not receive proportional average daily
14attendance credit pursuant to this subdivision for a pupil in
15attendance for less than 145 minutes each day.
16(3) The divisor for computing proportional average daily
17attendance pursuant to this subdivision is 240, except that, in the
18case of a pupil excused from physical education classes pursuant
19to Section 52316, the
divisor is 180.
20(4) Notwithstanding any otherbegin delete provision ofend delete law, travel time of
21pupils to attend a regional occupational center or regional
22occupational program shall not be used in any manner in the
23computation of average daily attendance.
24(e) (1) In computing the average daily attendance of a school
25district, there shall also be included the attendance of pupils
26participating in independent study conducted pursuant to Article
275.5 (commencing with Section 51745) of Chapter 5 of Part 28 for
28five or more consecutive schooldays.
29(2) A pupil participating in independent study shall not be
30credited with more than one day of attendance per calendar day.
31(f) For purposes of cooperative career technical education
32programs and community classrooms described in Section 52372.1,
33“immediate supervision” means pupil participation in paid and
34unpaid on-the-job experiences, as outlined under a training
35agreement and individualized training plans wherein the supervisor
36of the training site and certificated school personnel share the
37responsibility for the supervision of on-the-job experiences.
38(g) (1) In computing the average daily attendance of a school
39district, there shall be included the attendance of pupils in
40begin delete kindergarten after they have completed one school year in begin insert
transitional kindergartenend insertbegin insert and
P6 1kindergarten or pupils in a transitional kindergarten program after
2they have completed one year in that program if one of the
3following conditions is met:end delete
4kindergarten.end insert
5(A) The school district has on file for each of those pupils an
6agreement made pursuant to Section 48011, approved in form and
7content by the department and signed by the pupil’s parent or
8guardian,
that the pupil may continue in kindergarten for not more
9than one additional school year.
10(B) The pupils participated in a transitional kindergarten
11program pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 48000.
12(2) A school district may not include for apportionment purposes
13the attendance of any pupil for more than two years in kindergarten
14or for more than two years in a combination of transitional
15kindergarten and kindergarten.
16(3) For purposes of transitional kindergarten operated by a
17private local provider pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision
18(a) of Section 48005.20, “immediate supervision” means being
19under the immediate supervision of an employee of
the private
20local provider who satisfies the requirements of Section 48005.35.
Section 48000 of the Education Code is amended to
22read:
(a) A child shall be admitted to a kindergarten
24maintained by the school district at the beginning of a school year,
25or at a later time in the same yearbegin insert,end insert if the child will have his or her
26fifth birthday on or before one of the following dates:
27(1) December 2 of the 2011-12 school year.
28(2) November 1 of the 2012-13 school year.
29(3) October 1 of the 2013-14 school year.
30(4) September 1 of the 2014-15 school year and each school
31year thereafter.
32(b) A child shall be admitted to a transitional kindergarten
33maintained by the school district at the beginning of a school year,
34or at a later time in the same year, if the child will have his or her
35fifth birthday between the following dates:
36(1) September 2, 2015, to February 1, 2016, inclusive, for the
372015-16 school year.
38(2) September 2, 2016, to April 1, 2017, inclusive, for the
392016-17 school year.
P7 1(3) September 2, 2017, to June
1, 2018, inclusive, for the
22017-18 school year.
3(4) September 2, 2018, to August 2, 2019, inclusive, for the
42018-19 school year.
5(c) A child shall be admitted to a transitional kindergarten
6maintained by the school district at the beginning of a school year,
7or at a later time in the same year, if the child will have his or her
8fourth birthday on or before September 1 of the 2019-20 school
9year and each school year thereafter.
10(b)
end delete
11begin insert(d)end insert The governing board of a school district maintaining one or
12more kindergartens may, on a case-by-case basis, admit to a
13kindergarten a child having attained the age of five years at any
14time during the school year with the approval of the parent or
15guardian, subject to the following conditions:
16(1) The governing boardbegin insert of the school districtend insert determines that
17the admittance is in the best interests of the child.
18(2) The parent or guardian is given information regarding the
19advantages and disadvantages and any other explanatory
20information about the effect of this early admittance.
21(c) As a condition of receipt of apportionment for pupils in a
22transitional kindergarten program pursuant to subdivision (g) of
23Section 46300, a school district or charter school shall ensure the
24
following:
25(1) In the 2012-13 school year, a child who will have his or her
26fifth birthday between November 2 and December 2 shall be
27admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by the
28school district.
29(2) In the 2013-14 school year, a child who will have his or her
30fifth birthday between October 2 and December 2 shall be admitted
31to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by the school
32district.
33(3) In the 2014-15 school year and each school year thereafter,
34a child who will have his or her fifth birthday between September
352 and December 2 shall be admitted to a transitional kindergarten
36program maintained by the school district.
37(d)
end delete
38begin insert(e)end insert For purposes of this section, “transitional kindergarten”
39meansbegin delete the first year of a two-year
kindergarten program that uses
40a modified kindergarten curriculum that is age and developmentally
P8 1appropriate.end delete
2that is age and developmentally appropriate for a child who will
3be four years old before September 1 of the year in which he or
4she enrolls in transitional kindergartenend insertbegin insert.end insert
5(e) A transitional kindergarten shall not be construed as a new
6program or higher level of service.
Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 48005.10) is
8added to Chapter 1 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the 9Education Code, to read:
10
Transitional kindergarten is hereby established to
14do all of the following:
15(a) Support all children in developing the skills necessary for
16success in school and life. These skills shall include, but are not
17limited to, all of the following:
18(1) Cognitive skills such as language, early literacy, and
19numeracy.
20(2) Social-emotional skills such as perseverance, self-control,
21self-esteem, motivation, and conscientiousness.
22(3) Physical skills such as gross and fine motor development,
23and healthy eating habits.
24(b) Be age and developmentally appropriate.
25(c) Build on high-quality early learning and child care programs,
26including federal Head Start programs, to sustain the gains that
27children achieve attending those programs.
(a) A school district or charter school that offers
29kindergarten shall make transitional kindergarten available to all
30eligible children and shall allow, to the greatest extent possible, a
31parent of an eligible child to choose the transitional kindergarten
32that the eligible child attends.
33(b) On or before July 1, 2015, each county superintendent of
34schools shall conduct a review of the level of access to transitional
35kindergarten, state preschool, and Head Start provided to eligible
36children within the county. The review shall include, but is not
37limited to, a description of the plans of the school districts and
38charter schools in the county that offer kindergarten, to make
39transitional kindergarten available to all eligible children by the
P9 1
2019-20 school year. The county superintendent of schools shall
2post the results of the review on its Internet Web site.
3(c) To encourage the efficient use of existing facilities,
4transitional kindergarten may be operated using available classroom
5space at a public schoolsite meeting kindergarten classroom
6requirements, or at any public or private facility that has a child
7care license for age-eligible children, as defined in Division 12 of
8Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
9(d) Federal funding for preschool programs, and state funding
10annually appropriated in the Budget Act for the support of state
11preschool programs, shall be used to provide services for eligible
12three-, four-, and five-year-old children, including augmenting
13transitional kindergarten to provide full-day learning and child
14care services for participants.
15(e) Transitional kindergarten funds shall supplement, and not
16supplant, federal and state funding for existing child care and
17development programs.
(a) A school district or charter school offering
19transitional kindergarten shall do both of the following:
20(1) Provide public notice of the availability of transitional
21kindergarten using a variety of strategies to reach and inform
22families living in areas of poverty or high linguistic diversity,
23including, but not limited to, providing information through
24schoolsite councils, school advisory groups, community
25organizations, and parent meetings.
26(2) Administer the program for participating children. A school
27district or charter school administering transitional kindergarten
28may contract with a public local agency, including, but not limited
29to, a county office of education, or
a private local provider, or both,
30to participate in the delivery of transitional kindergarten consistent
31with the statutory requirements of transitional kindergarten.
32(b) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that a school district or
33charter school offering transitional kindergarten provide
34high-quality professional development aligned to transitional
35kindergarten standards adopted by the state board and designed to
36improve child learning and development. It is further the intent of
37the Legislature that professional development for transitional
38kindergarten teachers and associate teachers supports both of the
39following:
P10 1(A) Teacher-child interactions that promote child engagement
2and learning.
3(B) The use of child-level and class-level data to inform
4instructional strategies.
5(2) Professional development for transitional kindergarten
6teachers and associate teachers shall be aligned with the
7professional development provided to teachers and administrative
8staff in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive.
Transitional kindergarten shall include all of the
10following elements to promote integration and alignment with the
11early learning and child care system and the elementary education
12system:
13(a) Until statewide transitional kindergarten standards are
14adopted, use of the research-based age and developmentally
15appropriate preschool learning foundations of the department for
16all eight early childhood domains and the kindergarten education
17content standards that are aligned with elementary education
18standards.
19(b) Use and implementation of curriculum frameworks,
20instructional materials, and diagnostic assessment tools that are
21aligned with the California Preschool Learning Foundations and
22the
kindergarten education content standards.
23(c) Inclusion in the single school plan for pupil achievement
24and the local control and accountability plan.
25(d) Participation in the California Longitudinal Pupil
26Achievement Data System and the California School Information
27Services.
28(e) Coordination with other providers of services to young
29children, including, but not limited to, providers of health
30insurance, health services, including mental and behavioral health,
31developmental screening and assessment, parent literacy and
32education, and social services, especially through systems of care
33provided by First 5 California programs, preschool, and school
34health services and clinics.
35(f) Coordination of services with full-day, full-year early
36learning and child
care programs.
(a) On or before July 1, 2015, the Superintendent
38shall develop, and the state board shall adopt, the regulations
39necessary to implement this article and transitional kindergarten
40and shall incorporate existing regulations and guidelines, as
P11 1appropriate. The state board may adopt emergency regulations for
2purposes of this subdivision, and the adoption of emergency
3regulations by the state board pursuant to this subdivision shall be
4deemed necessary for the immediate preservation of the public
5peace, health and safety, or general welfare.
6(b) On or before July 1, 2016, the Superintendent shall develop,
7and the state board shall adopt, transitional kindergarten standards,
8curriculum frameworks, and instructional materials that include,
9but are
not limited to, social-emotional development, English
10language arts, English language development, mathematics, and
11science, that are based on the California Preschool Learning
12Foundations and aligned to kindergarten education content
13standards.
14(c) On or before January 31, 2017, the state board shall revise
15the local control and accountability plan template, adopted pursuant
16to Section 52064, to include any changes necessary to reflect the
17provision of high-quality transitional kindergarten to all eligible
18children.
(a) On or before July 1, 2015, all transitional
20kindergarten classes shall be taught by a teacher who holds, at a
21minimum, an associate degree, and has a professional development
22plan that provides for a baccalaureate degree with at least 24 units
23in early childhood education and a teaching credential by July 1,
242019.
25(b) On or before July 1, 2019, all transitional kindergarten
26classes shall be taught by a teacher who holds a baccalaureate
27degree with at least 24 units in early childhood education and a
28teaching credential.
29(c) On or before July 1, 2015, all transitional kindergarten
30associate teachers shall have, at a minimum, 24 units in early
31childhood education, and a
professional development plan that
32provides for an associate degree by July 1, 2019.
33(d) On or before July 1, 2019, all transitional kindergarten
34associate teachers shall have an associate degree with at least 24
35units in early childhood education.
36(e) Commencing with the 2015-16 school year, for purposes
37of compensation, including salary and benefits, transitional
38kindergarten teachers and associate teachers shall provide two
39part-day sessions per day in order to be considered full-time
40employees.
P12 1(f) On or before July 1, 2015, the Superintendent, in
2collaboration with the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the
3public postsecondary education system, including the California
4Community Colleges, and private postsecondary institutions, shall
5establish a workforce development plan for transitional
6kindergarten
teachers and associate teachers that provides for
7adequate opportunities for existing early childhood educators to
8obtain the necessary transitional kindergarten qualifications by
9July 1, 2019.
10(g) Commencing with the 2015-16 school year, transitional
11kindergarten shall be taught by at least one teacher and one
12associate teacher, and class size shall be limited to no more than
1320 children.
(a) Transitional kindergarten shall be eligible for
15school facilities funding.
16(b) Funds made available to public schools for joint use facilities
17may be used for transitional kindergarten.
18(c) Public local agencies or private local providers, or both,
19participating in the delivery of transitional kindergarten are
20encouraged to seek shared use agreements with a broad array of
21public and private entities.
Commencing with the 2015-16 school year,
23transitional kindergarten shall receive a per pupil base grant per
24unit of average daily attendance equal to two-thirds of the annual
25per pupil base grant provided for in subparagraph (A) of paragraph
26(1) of subdivision (d) of Section 42238.02, as adjusted for inflation
27pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 42238.02,
28plus an additional adjustment of 10.4 percent, and a supplemental
29grant add-on, as computed pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section
3042238.02.
For purposes of establishing collective bargaining
32rights for employees of a private local provider of transitional
33kindergarten pursuant to the terms of an agreement with the
34administering school district or charter school, as a condition of
35the receipt of funds, the private local provider shall be considered
36a public school employer, as defined in subdivision (k) of Section
373540.1 of the Government Code, and Chapter 10.7 (commencing
38with Section 3540) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government
39Code, shall apply to the private local provider.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
2this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
3local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
4pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
54 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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