California Legislators To Try Again To Make Kindergarten Mandatory The 74
California Legislators To Try Again To Make Kindergarten Mandatory The 74
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The past few years, California has been all about the ABCs, 1-2-3s and the wheels on the bus, investing than $5 billion in early childhood education.
But kindergarten, a staple of elementary schools for than a century, remains optional. Despite nearly a half dozen legislative attempts to require it, California is one of 32 states that doesn’t mandate that all 5-year-olds attend school.
That might change next year. Legislators plan to introduce a new bill to require kindergarten and they’re confident that it will meet a better fate than its predecessors, which either died in committee or were vetoed, largely due to the cost.
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“Kids need to be around other kids, they need to be learning. It matters,” said Patricia Lozano, executive director of Early Edge California, which advocates for early childhood education. “I don’t see why California can’t make this happen.”
The data, advocates say, is clear. Children who attend kindergarten have higher test scores in math and reading in third grade and beyond and higher high school graduation rates. They’re also less likely to be suspended or drop out later in their school careers.
Why some parents opt out
While California requires all school districts to offer kindergarten, it doesn’t require families to enroll their children. Most do, but about 5% a year opt out. The reasons vary: some families believe their children aren’t ready for the rigors of school, and others are happy with their children’s current arrangement, whether it’s a preschool, day care or staying home with family.
Latino families are the least likely to send their children to kindergarten, data shows. Lozano said there’s a variety of reasons for this: they either don’t know about it due to a language barrier; they’re afraid to register their children in school due to immigration concerns; parents are working so hard they’ve missed notices from the school district; or some combination of all three. Regardless, schools need to improve their outreach to that community, she said.
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Cecelia Kiss, a bilingual kindergarten teacher in the Sacramento City Unified School District, said she recently had a student whose mother was deported, and the child was unable to attend school because there was no one available to drive her. Even though the child loved school and the family placed a high value on education, it was logistically impossible to get the child to school. It took several weeks for the school and family to make transportation arrangements.
“For Latinos, education is so important. We want to give our kids the best we can,” said Kiss, who is also the parent of a kindergartner.
“But sometimes we can’t do everything. We rely on kind teachers to care for our children, to help them learn, to help them be prepared for first grade.”
State Sen. Susan Rubio said that the fact that kindergarten isn’t mandatory discourages already disadvantaged families from enrolling their children. In her experience, Latino families have tremendous respect for the public school system and if the system tells them kindergarten is optional, and therefore not a priority, “they listen to that.”
to و the و is – تفاصيل مهمة
That’s why she’s proposed two previous bills to make kindergarten mandatory. The state should be unequivocal in its message to families that early childhood education is essential for students’ success in school and life, she said.
The state’s already rolled out transitional kindergarten to all 4-year-olds, expanded state-funded preschool and added slots to its subsidized child care program. Bolstering kindergarten should be next, she said.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond agrees. He said this month that making kindergarten mandatory is a legislative priority for 2026, and he pledged to support any bill that addresses it. Several legislators said they’d consider sponsoring one.
‘Not an urgent need’
Both of Rubio’s previous kindergarten bills died – one in the Senate Appropriations Committee and another when Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it. In his veto note, he said he supports early education generally but the state hadn’t budgeted the cost, estimated to be $268 million annually.
kindergarten و to و and – تفاصيل مهمة
“While the author’s intent is laudable … it is important to remain disciplined when it comes to spending, particularly spending that is ongoing,” Newsom wrote.
Plenty of groups supported the bills, including the California Teachers Association — the state’s largest teachers union — and a slew of school districts. But it had a few opponents, namely the Homeschool Association of California. The group’s opposition was not based on the merits of kindergarten itself, but on the state’s ability to strip rights from parents.
“Most kids are already going to kindergarten. But some parents have good reasons for keeping their kids at home,” said Jamie Heston, a member of the group’s board. “Parents want the choice to decide what’s best for their individual child.”
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association hasn’t taken a position on the issue, but generally opposes new initiatives that cost money — including mandatory kindergarten. That stance isn’t likely to change if a kindergarten bill resurfaces, the group’s vice president Susan Shelley said this week.
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“From a budgetary point of view, there’s a lot of pressure this year to keep spending under control,” Shelley said. “This would not be a one-time cost.
It would be ongoing. And there’s not an urgent need to expand kindergarten, compared to other pressing needs facing the state right now.”
Bruce Fuller, an education professor at UC Berkeley who studies early childhood education, said the Legislature should focus on pressing needs facing the under-6 crowd. Those include how the rollout of transitional kindergarten has led to the closure of many preschools, leaving many 3-year-olds without a place to go.
Also, Head Start is struggling with funding and other obstacles imposed by the Trump administration, including attempts to bar families who are not citizens. And even though California has expanded access to state-funded preschool, not enough families know they’re eligible.
to و the و not – تفاصيل مهمة
“Not that many families opt out of kindergarten, so it’s not a huge need,” Fuller said. “There are immediate concerns.”
Learning gaps among students
Still, Rubio is confident that a kindergarten bill has a good chance of passing this year, largely because the Legislature has seen a significant turnover since it last voted on a kindergarten bill in 2024. Twenty-seven new senators and Assembly members were elected last fall.
For Rubio, whose parents immigrated from Mexico, the issue is personal. Although she did well in school, her twin brother did not.
At an early age, he was wrongly placed in special education, fell behind and struggled throughout his time in school, eventually dropping out. Rubio believes he would have fared better if he had a high-quality early childhood education.
a و in و he – تفاصيل مهمة
She’s also an elementary school teacher who’s seen the gap between students who’ve been to preschool, TK and kindergarten, versus those who had never enrolled in school at all until first grade. Children who’ve been to kindergarten know how to hold a pencil, write their names, count to 20, take turns and maybe even read or do basic math, she said. Those who haven’t lag far behind their peers and some never catch up, she said.
“I have very vivid memories of my students just breaking down crying at the end of the year because they couldn’t do a test. They didn’t know the answers, and that’s so heartbreaking to see,” said Rubio, who’s on leave from her job teaching at Monrovia Unified in Los Angeles County. “It’s hard on them, and it’s hard on the teachers because those children need a lot of extra help.”
Lozano said she thinks the bill will pass eventually. The initiative would cost money, but the state would save money in the long run if students succeeded in school and graduated.
“It took us 20 years to get TK. It takes time to change minds, change policies,” Lozano said.
the و of و and – تفاصيل مهمة
“There are so many benefits to kindergarten, especially for the kids who need it the most. We believe the benefits outweigh the costs.”
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
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!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’); fbq(‘init’, ‘626037510879173’); // 626037510879173 fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);{“@context”:”http://schema.org”,”@type”:”NewsArticle”,”dateCreated”:”2026-01-13T17:36:26+04:00″,”datePublished”:”2026-01-13T17:36:26+04:00″,”dateModified”:”2026-01-13T17:36:26+04:00″,”headline”:”California Legislators to Try Again to Make Kindergarten Mandatory The 74″,”name”:”California Legislators to Try Again to Make Kindergarten Mandatory The 74″,”keywords”:[],”url”:”https://uaetodaynews.com/california-legislators-to-try-again-to-make-kindergarten-mandatory-the-74/”,”description”:”Join our zero2eight Substack community for more discussion about the latest news in early care and education. Sign up now. This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newslett”,”copyrightYear”:”2026″,”articleSection”:”Education”,”articleBody”:”nnn n Join our zero2eight Substack community for more discussion about the latest news in early care and education. Sign up now.n n n n nThis story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.nnThe past few years, California has been all about the ABCs, 1-2-3s and the wheels on the bus, investing more than $5 billion in early childhood education.nnBut kindergarten, a staple of elementary schools for more than a century, remains optional. Despite nearly a half dozen legislative attempts to require it, California is one of 32 states that doesnu2019t mandate that all 5-year-olds attend school.nnThat might change next year. Legislators plan to introduce a new bill to require kindergarten and theyu2019re confident that it will meet a better fate than its predecessors, which either died in committee or were vetoed, largely due to the cost.nnu201cKids need to be around other kids, they need to be learning. It matters,u201d said Patricia Lozano, executive director of Early Edge California, which advocates for early childhood education. u201cI donu2019t see why California canu2019t make this happen.u201dnnThe data, advocates say, is clear. Children who attend kindergarten have higher test scores in math and reading in third grade and beyond and higher high school graduation rates. Theyu2019re also less likely to be suspended or drop out later in their school careers.nWhy some parents opt outnWhile California requires all school districts to offer kindergarten, it doesnu2019t require families to enroll their children. Most do, but about 5% a year opt out. The reasons vary: some families believe their children arenu2019t ready for the rigors of school, and others are happy with their childrenu2019s current arrangement, whether itu2019s a preschool, day care or staying home with family.nnLatino families are the least likely to send their children to kindergarten, data shows. Lozano said thereu2019s a variety of reasons for this: they either donu2019t know about it due to a language barrier; theyu2019re afraid to register their children in school due to immigration concerns; parents are working so hard theyu2019ve missed notices from the school district; or some combination of all three. Regardless, schools need to improve their outreach to that community, she said.nnCecelia Kiss, a bilingual kindergarten teacher in the Sacramento City Unified School District, said she recently had a student whose mother was deported, and the child was unable to attend school because there was no one available to drive her. Even though the child loved school and the family placed a high value on education, it was logistically impossible to get the child to school. It took several weeks for the school and family to make transportation arrangements.nnu201cFor Latinos, education is so important. We want to give our kids the best we can,u201d said Kiss, who is also the parent of a kindergartner. u201cBut sometimes we canu2019t do everything. We rely on kind teachers to care for our children, to help them learn, to help them be prepared for first grade.u201dnnState Sen. Susan Rubio said that the fact that kindergarten isnu2019t mandatory discourages already disadvantaged families from enrolling their children. In her experience, Latino families have tremendous respect for the public school system and if the system tells them kindergarten is optional, and therefore not a priority, u201cthey listen to that.u201dnnThatu2019s why sheu2019s proposed two previous bills to make kindergarten mandatory. The state should be unequivocal in its message to families that early childhood education is essential for studentsu2019 success in school and life, she said. The stateu2019s already rolled out transitional kindergarten to all 4-year-olds, expanded state-funded preschool and added more slots to its subsidized child care program. Bolstering kindergarten should be next, she said.nnState Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond agrees. He said this month that making kindergarten mandatory is a legislative priority for 2026, and he pledged to support any bill that addresses it. Several legislators said theyu2019d consider sponsoring one.nu2018Not an urgent needu2019nBoth of Rubiou2019s previous kindergarten bills died u2013 one in the Senate Appropriations Committee and another when Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it. In his veto note, he said he supports early education generally but the state hadnu2019t budgeted the cost, estimated to be $268 million annually.nnu201cWhile the authoru2019s intent is laudable u2026 it is important to remain disciplined when it comes to spending, particularly spending that is ongoing,u201d Newsom wrote.nnPlenty of groups supported the bills, including the California Teachers Association u2014 the stateu2019s largest teachers union u2014 and a slew of school districts. But it had a few opponents, namely the Homeschool Association of California. The groupu2019s opposition was not based on the merits of kindergarten itself, but on the stateu2019s ability to strip rights from parents.nnu201cMost kids are already going to kindergarten. But some parents have good reasons for keeping their kids at home,u201d said Jamie Heston, a member of the groupu2019s board. u201cParents want the choice to decide whatu2019s best for their individual child.u201dnnThe Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association hasnu2019t taken a position on the issue, but generally opposes new initiatives that cost money u2014 including mandatory kindergarten. That stance isnu2019t likely to change if a kindergarten bill resurfaces, the groupu2019s vice president Susan Shelley said this week.nnu201cFrom a budgetary point of view, thereu2019s a lot of pressure this year to keep spending under control,u201d Shelley said. u201cThis would not be a one-time cost. It would be ongoing. And thereu2019s not an urgent need to expand kindergarten, compared to other more pressing needs facing the state right now.u201dnnBruce Fuller, an education professor at UC Berkeley who studies early childhood education, said the Legislature should focus on more pressing needs facing the under-6 crowd. Those include how the rollout of transitional kindergarten has led to the closure of many preschools, leaving many 3-year-olds without a place to go. Also, Head Start is struggling with funding and other obstacles imposed by the Trump administration, including attempts to bar families who are not citizens. And even though California has expanded access to state-funded preschool, not enough families know theyu2019re eligible.nnu201cNot that many families opt out of kindergarten, so itu2019s not a huge need,u201d Fuller said. u201cThere are more immediate concerns.u201dnLearning gaps among studentsnStill, Rubio is confident that a kindergarten bill has a good chance of passing this year, largely because the Legislature has seen a significant turnover since it last voted on au00a0 kindergarten bill in 2024. Twenty-seven new senators and Assembly members were elected last fall.nnFor Rubio, whose parents immigrated from Mexico, the issue is personal. Although she did well in school, her twin brother did not. At an early age, he was wrongly placed in special education, fell behind and struggled throughout his time in school, eventually dropping out. Rubio believes he would have fared better if he had a high-quality early childhood education.nnSheu2019s also an elementary school teacher whou2019s seen the gap between students whou2019ve been to preschool, TK and kindergarten, versus those who had never enrolled in school at all until first grade. Children whou2019ve been to kindergarten know how to hold a pencil, write their names, count to 20, take turns and maybe even read or do basic math, she said. Those who havenu2019t lag far behind their peers and some never catch up, she said.nnu201cI have very vivid memories of my students just breaking down crying at the end of the year because they couldnu2019t do a test. They didnu2019t know the answers, and thatu2019s so heartbreaking to see,u201d said Rubio, whou2019s on leave from her job teaching at Monrovia Unified in Los Angeles County. u201cItu2019s hard on them, and itu2019s hard on the teachers because those children need a lot of extra help.u201dnnLozano said she thinks the bill will pass eventually. The initiative would cost money, but the state would save money in the long run if more students succeeded in school and graduated.nnu201cIt took us 20 years to get TK. It takes time to change minds, change policies,u201d Lozano said. u201cThere are so many benefits to kindergarten, especially for the kids who need it the most. We believe the benefits outweigh the costs.u201dnnThis article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.nn n n n Did you use this article in your work?
nWeu2019d love to hear how The 74u2019s reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers. Tell us hown n nnn !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;n t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,n document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);n fbq(‘init’, ‘626037510879173’); // 626037510879173n fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);n nnnnnDisclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification. nWe do not take any responsibility for its content, which remains solely the responsibility of the original publisher.nnnnnnAuthor: Carolyn JonesnPublished on: 2026-01-13 17:30:00nSource: www.the74million.orgn”,”publisher”:{“@id”:”#Publisher”,”@type”:”Organization”,”name”:”uaetodaynews”,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”url”:”https://uaetodaynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/images-e1759081190269.png”},”sameAs”:[“https://www.facebook.com/uaetodaynewscom”,”https://www.pinterest.com/uaetodaynews/”,”https://www.instagram.com/uaetoday_news_com/”]},”sourceOrganization”:{“@id”:”#Publisher”},”copyrightHolder”:{“@id”:”#Publisher”},”mainEntityOfPage”:{“@type”:”WebPage”,”@id”:”https://uaetodaynews.com/california-legislators-to-try-again-to-make-kindergarten-mandatory-the-74/”,”breadcrumb”:{“@id”:”#Breadcrumb”}},”author”:{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”uaetodaynews”,”url”:”https://uaetodaynews.com/author/arabsongmedia-net/”},”image”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”url”:”https://uaetodaynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/kindergarten-in-California-825×495.jpg”,”width”:1200,”height”:495}}
Disclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification.
We do not take any responsibility for its content, which remains solely the responsibility of the original publisher.
Author: uaetodaynews
Published on: 2026-01-13 13:36:00
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