California schools have seen unusual drops in enrollment, with kindergarten making up an outsize share of the decrease. Enrollment in kindergarten declined by 61,000 students in 2020-21, according to state data. Nearly half of Los Angeles Unified students — more than 200,000 children — have been chronically absent this school year, meaning they have missed at least 9% of the academic year, according to data provided by the district in response to a public records request.
For Black students the chronic absence rate is nearly 57%. For Latinos, it is 49%. For homeless students it is 68%.
Now, the Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) wants to change that. She introduced a new bill State Bill 70 that is headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk and would require California schoolchildren to complete a kindergarten year before entering the first grade. This would go into effect for the 2024-2025 school year.
Currently, children who are at least five years old have the option to attend kindergarten but are not mandated to attend school until they turn six. SB-70 would add California to more than a dozen states requiring kindergarten.
“Research has shown that kindergarten is an essential part of a student’s development, and now, more than ever, this critical early instruction is necessary in order to narrow opportunity gaps that were exacerbated by COVID-19,” said Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and Board President Kelly Gonez. “Mandating a full year of kindergarten ensures students receive high-quality academic, social, and developmentally-appropriate learning experiences, as well as serves as an important tool in reducing chronic absenteeism. That is why Los Angeles Unified is proud to be a sponsor of SB 70.”
While those data are skewed by the pandemic, as parents opted out during a tumultuous year of distance learning because of virus outbreaks, proponents of the bill said families may think kindergarten is not essential because it’s optional. Absentee rates are also disproportionately higher in the grade because families don’t take it seriously, she said.
The California Homeschool Network opposed the bill, calling it an “unnecessary” mandate that limits choice. “This new legislation would require them to start in kindergarten regardless of their preparation and social skills — in other words, mandating 13 years of formal education instead of 12,” the group said in a statement of opposition. “Better education policy would consider both mastery and maturity, not chronological age.”
Another bill, AB 1973 by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), aims to require that all school districts offer full-day kindergarten. Right now, some districts offer only part-time programs that last three hours a day.
Although Newsom has made early education a part of his gubernatorial agenda, increasing access to preschool and transitional kindergarten statewide, his Department of Finance opposes the bill due to the cost.
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