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

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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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-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 47	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 6, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 22, 2015

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

                        DECEMBER 1, 2014

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



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 47, as amended, 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  state the intent of the Legislature that
no later than January 1, 2017, the state budget shall include an
appropriation for the state preschool program sufficient to provide
all children who are eligible for the program, and whose parents wish
to enroll them, the opportunity to enroll in the program in the year
before they enter kindergarten.   require, on or before
January 1, 2017, all eligible children to have access to the state
preschool program the year before they enter kindergarten, if their
parents wish to enroll them. The bill would state that it is the
intent of the Legislature to provide sufficient funding in the annual
Budget Act for this purpose. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


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 graders 
 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.  It is the intent of the Legislature that both of the
following occur:
   (a) All low-income children have access to either a state
preschool program or a transitional kindergarten program.
   (b)  Funds are allocated to expand the state preschool program to
provide full day, full year preschool for all eligible low-income
children who otherwise would not be served in either state preschool
or transitional kindergarten.
  SEC. 4.  Section 8235.1 is added to the Education Code, to read:

   8235.1.  It is the intent of the Legislature that no later than
January 1, 2017, the state budget shall include an appropriation for
the state preschool program sufficient to provide all children who
are eligible for the program, and whose parents wish to enroll them,
the opportunity to enroll in the program in the year before they
enter kindergarten.  
   8235.1.  On or before January 1, 2017, all eligible children,
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 8263, shall have access to the
state preschool program the year before they enter kindergarten, if
their parents wish to enroll them. It is the intent of the
Legislature to provide sufficient funding in the annual Budget Act
for this purpose.