Urgent! Legislative Coordinators: Help Pass CTA Kindergarten Readiness Bill, AB 1236
CTA‘s sponsored measure to ensure that kindergarteners are prepared to meet the challenges of the modern classroom is headed for a hearing on April 25 in the Assembly Education Committee.
The CTA measure, AB 1236 by Assembly Member Gene Mullin (D-San Francisco), would make kindergarten attendance mandatory for all children. Currently, kindergarten is voluntary, and the compulsory age for attendance for elementary school is 6 years old.
AB 1236 also changes the kindergarten entry age from 5 years old by December 2nd to 5 years old by September 1st. In addition, AB 1236 provides developmentally appropriate kindergarten-readiness classes within our public schools system for all children too young to begin kindergarten.
Background:
California has significantly raised the standards for all grades, including kindergarten. Today’s kindergarten classrooms are academically oriented places where students gain the basic skills that are the foundation for their elementary and secondary education.
But teachers have long observed that some of the state’s youngest kindergarteners -- those who are as young as four years and nine months old -- are generally too immature to deal with the requirements.
Study after study has proven the accuracy of teachers’ observations. The studies have determined that children do better when they start kindergarten at the appropriate age and that quality preschool helps them succeed in their academic careers.
AB 1236 addresses the readiness issue in two ways. It raises the starting age for kindergarten to help ensure that students are mature enough to handle the challenges. It also provides kindergarten readiness classes with credentialed instructional personnel to help four-year-olds get ready for the challenges ahead.
Key Points:
AB 1236 creates an ambitious two-pronged program to help the state’s youngest students achieve educational excellence.
The bill provides kindergarten readiness programs open to four-year-olds to give them the skills they will need to tackle the academic challenges they will find in kindergarten.
The bill ensures that all five-year-olds will attend kindergarten, a vital step in preparing them for academic success throughout their careers. By raising the starting age to five years by September 1, the bill will help ensure that kindergarten students are ready to learn.
Kindergarten readiness programs will be taught developmentally appropriate lessons by certificated instructional personnel.
Coordinators:
Mobilize CTA members and other education supporters to contact all Assembly Members and urge them to vote for AB 1236 (Mullin).
The link below will take you to the the Legislative Action Center, where you can send e-mails directly to these officials.
Contact your local lawmaker
For more information, contact CTA Legislative Advocates Lori Easterling or GR Communications Consultant Len Feldman at 916.325.1500.