The legislation would have cost the state approximately $100 million annually.
The California Legislature rejected a bill during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing last week that would have made kindergarten mandatory in the state, thwarting lawmakers’ second attempt in two years to mandate classroom attendance for young children.
Assembly Bill 2226 would have gone into effect for the 2027–28 school year and would have required full-time kindergarten attendance as a prerequisite for first grade in California public schools.
The bill, authored by Democrat Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, was referred to what’s known as the suspense file earlier this month as its fiscal impact was considered. After being heard again on Aug. 15, the bill was permanently shelved by the appropriations committee.
Implementation of the legislation was estimated at $100 million annually had it become law, according to an Assembly appropriations
analysis in May.
In 2021, a nearly identical bill was introduced by Democrat Senator Susan Rubio. Gov. Gavin Newsom
vetoed the legislation in 2022, citing his concern with the bill’s potential financial fallout.
“Bills with significant fiscal impact, such as this measure, should be considered and accounted for as part of the annual budget process,” he wrote in his veto letter.
Rubio also co-authored Muratsuchi’s most recent attempt and has argued mandatory kindergarten is needed to ensure academic success.
“The voluntary participation for kindergarten leaves students unprepared for the educational environment they will encounter in elementary school,” she said in a
statement upon the bill’s introduction in February.
Under existing state law, children are required to attend school between the ages of 6 and 18, according to the
California Department of Education. Those who attend kindergarten in the state now are eligible based on age alone—they must have their fifth birthday on or before Sept. 1 of the school year.
Muratsuchi’s bill would have allowed private schools or homeschoolers to remain exempt from mandatory public school kindergarten attendance, according to the
legislation.Some lawmakers had expressed concerns about the cost of bringing potentially thousands more students into the public school system. According to the Assembly
appropriations committee earlier this year, public school districts receive $10,000 from the state for every enrolled kindergarten student.
Republican Assemblywoman Diane Dixon, who
opposed the bill during the May Assembly floor vote on the issue, said the legislation was considered one of the “high cost bills,” 30 percent of which were killed in Assembly and Senate appropriations hearings last week.
“I am relieved the fiscal committees recognized the dire state California’s budget is facing this year. Next year will be even worse. We need to continue prioritizing taxpayer dollars for critical programs,” she told The Epoch Times.
Among kindergarten-aged students in California, chronic absenteeism is high. According to the
Public Policy Institute of California, the most recent data from the 2022–23 school show that 36 percent of kindergarten-age learners were absent at least 10 percent of school days.
It’s unclear how many kindergartners would have been integrated into the public school system if Muratsuchi’s bill had passed and been signed by the governor.
“This number is difficult to determine as it is unknown how many children will attend kindergarten in private school and whether parents would choose to send their children to private school if this bill is enacted,” the Senate appropriations committee stated in an August
analysis.
Muratsuchi did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
