California Legislature again rejects bill to make kindergarten mandatory

A bill that would have required all California families to enroll their children in kindergarten was rejected by the state Legislature on Thursday, the latest of several failed attempts over the years to make the grade compulsory.

The legislation, AB 2226, aimed to mandate the state's youngest students attend kindergarten before being admitted to the first grade. According to the California Department of Education, 95% of students already attend kindergarten, though it is not required.

Instead, students are required to attend school when they turn 6 years old — and it's up to families if they start in kindergarten or go straight to first grade.

More than 14,000 California students skipped kindergarten in the 2022-23 school year, the Department of Education estimates.

Proponents of the bill, including the Los Angeles Unified School District and the California Teachers Assn., pointed to research that shows early education is crucial to a student's long-term education, noting that kindergarten is mandatory in 19 states and D.C.

Data from the Los Angeles Unified School District show that children who attend kindergarten do better on assessments later in elementary school.

The bill had no official opposition but was killed without debate in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday during a fast-paced fiscal hearing where hundreds of bills were approved or rejected based on their price tag.

According to a legislative analysis of the bill, it could result in "significant" costs of hundreds of millions of dollars.

"The lens we were looking through was the cost. Anything that we pass and the governor signs means it's probably something that has to come out of the budget next year," Sen. Anna Caballero (D-Salinas), who chairs the appropriations committee and voted for AB 2226 earlier this year, said following Thursday's hearing in Sacramento.

California faces a $46.8-billion budget deficit , and Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers have already made billions in cuts to blunt the problem.

Despite its lack of organized opposition, efforts to force kindergarten have failed before.

Newsom — an early education advocate — vetoed a similar bill in 2022, calling the effort “laudable” but saying the costs were not accounted for in the state’s budget. Former Gov. Jerry Brown before him also vetoed the proposal, arguing that the comparatively small amount of families who forgo kindergarten should have the freedom to choose what's best for them.

Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Rolling Hills Estates) authored AB 2226 and said that kindergarten is "an essential component" of education that "builds the foundation" for skills such as literacy and socialization.

He cited data from the California Research Bureau that show that Latino children are the least likely to enroll in kindergarten, raising questions about equity.

"I was disappointed but not surprised," Muratsuchi said following Thursday's hearing. "I think more than anything its a reflection of our current budget deficit, but the data is clear and we need to make sure we close the kindergarten gap. We're definitely not giving up."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .