Senate Ed Committee Passes Weber’s Mandatory Kindergarten Bill

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Kindergarten instruction critical to success in Common Core 

SACRAMENTO – The Senate Committee on Education passed legislation, AB 713, authored by Assemblymember Shirley N. Weber (D-San Diego) that would require all students in California to attend kindergarten or at least to demonstrate proficiency in the skills acquired in kindergarten in order to enter the first grade.

Currently, state law does not require children to attend kindergarten, while attendance is required from first through twelfth grades.

Weber, a former San Diego City School Board trustee and president, noted that the voluntary status of kindergarten allows parents to delay their child’s entrance into school, leaving students unprepared for the educational environment when they enroll in first grade.

“In 2010, we adopted the kindergarten through 12th-grade Common Core standards meant not only to address the achievement gap, but also to give students the skills and knowledge necessary to be global and critical thinkers,” Weber said. “But the state doesn’t require children in California to attend kindergarten or to receive the kindergarten instruction that is fundamental for their success in Common Core.”

Weber’s bill would give parents the option of providing kindergarten instruction at home or in a traditional school setting. Parents would also retain the right to decide whether their child enters kindergarten at five or six years old.

AB 713 is supported by the Association of California School Administrators; the California Teachers Association; the Compton Unified School District; the California State PTA; the California Child Development Administrators Association; the California Catholic Conference; First 5 California; California State Conference of the NAACP and San Diego County Office of Education.

The bill, which passed the Senate Education Committee on a 7-2 vote, heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration later this summer.