Bill Text: CA AB47 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Enrolled

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Bill Title: State preschool program.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)

Status: (Vetoed) 2016-01-15 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB47 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB47-Enrolled.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 47	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  SEPTEMBER 10, 2015
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 2, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 1, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 6, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 22, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member McCarty
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Chávez, Eduardo Garcia, and
Rendon)

                        DECEMBER 1, 2014

   An act to add Section 8235.1 to the Education Code, relating to
preschool.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 47, McCarty. State preschool program.
   Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
administer all California state preschool programs, which include
part-day age and developmentally appropriate programs for 3- and
4-year-old children, as provided. Existing law provides that 3- and
4-year-old children are eligible for the state part-day preschool
program if the family meets one of several eligibility requirements,
including income eligibility.
   This bill would require, on or before June 30, 2018, all eligible
children who are not enrolled in transitional kindergarten to have
access to the state preschool program the year before they enter
kindergarten, if their parents wish to enroll them, contingent upon
the appropriation of sufficient funding in the annual Budget Act for
this purpose.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Preschool for All Act of 2015.
  SEC. 2.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Recent reforms such as the common core state standards and the
local control funding formula establish greater quality and equity
in California's public K-12 education system.
   (b) None of these reforms, however, address the reality that the
achievement gap is present well before children first step through
the kindergarten classroom door.
   (c) Recent research shows that by the age of two, low-income
children are six months behind in language development relative to
their higher income peers. By age five, low-income children are more
than two years behind in language development.
   (d) Research shows that California children with the largest gaps
in school readiness and achievement are the least likely to
participate in any preschool program and the least likely to attend
high-quality programs.
   (e) Tens of thousands of eligible children do not attend state
preschool or federal Head Start services, and only one-quarter of all
four-year-old children are eligible to attend transitional
kindergarten.
   (f) Children who are not reading proficiently by the end of 3rd
grade are four times more likely to not graduate from high school on
time.
   (g) Only 48 percent of California 3rd grade pupils test proficient
or better in English-language arts.
   (h) More than 100 studies nationally have shown that high-quality
preschool significantly improves children's school readiness and
school performance.
   (i) Numerous longitudinal studies show that high-quality preschool
decreases grade retention and special education placements, and
increases high school graduation rates, college enrollment, and
earnings as adults as well as decreases costs in criminal justice and
welfare.
   (j) Research over the last decade has shown that early learning in
two or more languages increases children's ability to think flexibly
and builds skills that are increasingly critical to later success in
college and career.
   (k) In the 2014-15 annual Budget Act, the Legislature and Governor
committed to providing all low-income children with at least one
year of state preschool or transitional kindergarten.
   (  l  ) An independent research analysis of over 20
preschool programs demonstrated that quality preschool provides a
return of $15,000 for every child served.
   (m) If California were to invest in high-quality preschool, the
overall savings in prison system expenditures alone are estimated to
be $1.1 billion a year due to the reduction in prison population by
13,000.
  SEC. 3.  Section 8235.1 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   8235.1.  On or before June 30, 2018, all eligible children,
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 8263, who are not enrolled in
transitional kindergarten shall have access to the state preschool
program the year before they enter kindergarten, if their parents
wish to enroll them, contingent upon the appropriation of sufficient
funding in the annual Budget Act for this purpose.