BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2759
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Date of Hearing: April 9, 2008
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gene Mullin, Chair
AB 2759 (Jones) - As Amended: April 3, 2008
SUBJECT : State Preschool Programs: Reform
SUMMARY : Recasts and renames provisions of the Child Care and
Development Services Act to establish the California State
Preschool Program. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes declarations and findings, including the following:
a) A high-quality preschool system would benefit California
children, public and higher education, families and
students, and the economy; and
b) California must create a more coherent and efficient
publicly funded preschool program and lay the groundwork
for high quality. Consolidating and streamlining the
state's preschool program within existing revenues and
expenditures and creating a system that rewards programs
that provide higher quality learning environments would
greatly increase California's ability to bridge the
achievement gap.
2)Renames the State Preschool Program to the California State
Preschool Programs and defines the California State Preschool
Programs as part-day and full-day educational programs for
low-income or otherwise disadvantaged three- and four-year-old
children.
3)Strikes definitions in the State Preschool section of the
Education Code (EC) and recasts those provisions in the
general definition section of the Child Care and Development
Services Act.
4)Specifies that three- and four-year-old children are eligible
for the part-day program if the family meets one of the
following eligibility criteria:
a) The family is a current social service aid recipient;
b) The family is income eligible;
c) The family is homeless; or
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d) The family has children who are: 1) recipients of
protective services; 2) identified as being abused,
neglected, or exploited; or 3) at risk of being abused,
neglected, or exploited.
5)Specifies that no more than 10% of children enrolled in the
part-day program, calculated throughout the participating
program's entire contract, may be filled by children in
families above the income eligibility threshold.
6)Specifies that three- and four-year-old children are eligible
for the full-day program if the family meets at least one of
the criteria specified in (4) above and needs the child care
services for one of the following reasons:
a) The child is identified by a legal, medical, social
services agency as: 1) a recipient of protective services;
or 2) being or at risk of being neglected, abused, or
exploited; or
b) The parents are: 1) engaged in vocational training, 2)
employed or seeking employment; 3) seeking permanent
housing; or 4) incapacitated.
7)Strikes the provision requiring at least half of the children
enrolled at a preschool site be four-year-olds if the state
preschool program is operating with funding that was initially
allocated in a prior fiscal year. Strikes the provision
requiring the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to:
1) approve any exceptions; and 2) inform the Secretary of
Child Development and Education of any exceptions that have
been granted.
8)Strikes the provisions regarding priority for enrollment if an
agency receives funding for the expansion of a preschool
program and strikes the provisions authorizing a local
educational agency (LEA) to subcontract with a public or
private agency to operate a preschool program and apply for
funds. Strikes the provision that in the event a school
district chooses not to operate or subcontract for a preschool
program, the SPI shall work with a county office of education
to explore contracting or subcontracting opportunities to
provide a state preschool program.
9)Provides that the SPI may transfer funds appropriated on and
after January 1, 2009 between Center Child Care and
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Development programs and the California State Preschool
program for the purpose of maximizing funds and ensuring that
the needs of the service population are met.
10)Specifies that a part-day program contracting agency may
enroll families into their program 120 days prior to the first
day of the beginning of a new preschool year and that once
enrolled, the child shall be deemed eligible for the part-day
program the remainder of the year.
11)Strikes the following provisions relating to the
Prekindergarten and Family Literacy (PKFL) program:
a) Obsolete language related to prior year funding
appropriations;
b) The requirement that the PKFL serve children who would
attend kindergarten the subsequent year and shall not
receive services for more than one year;
c) The authorization that up to 20% of the contracted slots
may be enrolled by families that exceed the income
eligibility threshold; and
d) The requirement that funds be prorated if funds for
support and family services is insufficient to fund all
participating classes.
12)Requires any program located in the attendance area of
elementary schools ranked in deciles 1 through 3 of the most
recent Academic Performance Index to provide PKFL required
services.
13)Requires that if funds for the PKFL support and family
services are insufficient to fund all participating classes,
the SPI shall establish criteria for the distribution of
funds.
14)Recasts provisions relating to full- and part-day services
and provides the following:
a) Part-day services shall be reimbursed on a per capita
basis, as determined by the SPI;
b) Full-day services shall be reimbursed at no more than
the standard reimbursement rate with adjustment factors;
and
c) Federal Head Start funds used to provide services to
families receiving California state preschool services
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shall be deemed nonrestricted funds.
15)Renames the "General Child Care and Development Programs" to
"Center Child Care and Development Programs".
16)Requires Center Child Care and Development programs to be
culturally and linguistically appropriate, in addition to age
and developmentally appropriate, for children.
17)Repeals several of the operations and definition provisions
under the Center Child Care and Development programs.
18)Provides that California state preschool programs serving
children for a minimum of three hours and less than four hours
per day shall have a reimbursement factor of 62% of the
standard reimbursement rate.
19)Makes technical, conforming changes.
20)Specifies that this bill becomes operative on July 1, 2009,
and is contingent upon the enactment of SB 1629 (Steinberg).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Declares, under the Child Care and Development Services Act,
legislative intent to provide a comprehensive, coordinated,
and cost-effective system of child care and development
services for children from birth through age 12 and their
parents.
2)Defines terms related to the provision of child care and
development services.
3)Requires the SPI to administer all child care and state
preschool programs in accordance with specified funding
priorities.
4)Specifies the eligibility and the process for certification
and enrollment of families in these programs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background . The California Department of Education
(CDE) administers a child care and child development system,
maintaining over 1,500 service contracts with approximately 786
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public and private agencies supporting and providing services to
about 500,000 children. Contractors include school districts,
county offices of education, cities, colleges, other public
entities, community-based organizations, and private agencies.
There are 110,000 state preschool slots for children who meet
the income eligibility threshold of 75 percent of the State
Median Income, while more than 40,000 children who are income
eligible are on the state's waiting list for preschool. The
following five programs provide services to children between the
ages of 3 to 5:
1)General Child Care and Development programs are state and
federally funded and are delivered by a variety of providers,
including public or private agencies, LEAs, or centers and
family child care home networks. These programs offer an
educational component that is developmentally, culturally, and
linguistically appropriate, and provide parent educations and
referrals to public service agencies. Children between birth
and age 12 are eligible for services if they meet income and
other eligibility criteria.
2)State Preschool programs are part-day comprehensive
developmental programs that emphasize parent education and
involvement. These programs are administered through LEAs,
colleges, community-action agencies, and private nonprofit
agencies.
3)State Preschool Full-Day programs enable state preschool
part-day providers to extend their programs to a full day.
Agencies that receive these "wrap-around" funds must operate
as a preschool program for half a day and as a general child
care provider the remainder of the day.
4)The PKFL program provides child development and family
literacy services to those who reside in the attendance areas
of elementary schools in deciles 1-3. Eligibility is limited
to children who would be attending kindergarten the subsequent
year. PKFL providers are eligible to receive $2500 per class
to provide family and support services.
5)The PKFL Full-Day program is similar to the State preschool
full-day program in that these programs operate as a PKFL
program for half a day and as general child care for the
remainder of the day. The PKFL full-day program operates a
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longer preschool year than the regular PKFL.
Proposed Budget . The 2008-09 budget proposes $753 million for
the General child care program and $441 million for the
remaining preschool programs. According to the CDE,
approximately $375 million of the $753 million for General Child
Care serves three- and four-year-olds. The total for the
California Preschool Program is expected to be approximately
$816 million. The Legislative Analyst's Office, in its analysis
of the 2008-09 budget, states that "In general, child care
programs are designed primarily to supervise children where
child development programs have a focus on early childhood
education. In reality, these programs frequently have many
points of overlap and coordinate to serve the same children."
Purpose of the bill . According to the author, this bill was
introduced in response to a recommendation by the SPI's P-16
(Preschool through Higher Education) Council to streamline the
state's preschool system to help bridge California's achievement
gap. The intent is to consolidate all the current State
Preschool, PKFL and General Child Care programs serving
preschool-aged children to create the California State Preschool
program. According to the SPI, "by consolidating the existing
preschool delivery programs, center-based preschools and
school-based preschool programs would no longer have to apply,
administer and report on the various state preschool contracts
the state currently funds. Condensing these three separately
administered contracts into one will eliminate unneeded
bureaucracy and administrative burden. Consolidation will
create a uniform and streamlined system which may be enhanced
and expanded to serve children."
This bill, co-sponsored by the SPI, Children Now and Preschool
California, changes the name of the State Preschool program to
the California State Preschool (CSP) program. While most of the
changes proposed by the bill are technical recasting of
provisions, there are a number of provisions that warrant
highlighting, including the following:
1)The California State Preschool Program will be comprised of
part-day and full-day programs and will target services only
for three- and four-year-old children.
2)Eligibility will be standardized, using current eligibility
for the General Child Care program (see points 4 and 6 in the
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summary section).
3)The SPI is authorized to transfer funds between the Center
Child Care and CSP programs. The CDE reports that this
provision will ensure continuity of care for four-year-olds
transitioning from the Center Child Care and Development
program to the CSP and six-year-olds transitioning from the
CSP to the Center Child Care program.
4)Enrollment of children whose families exceed income
requirements will be limited to 10% across the provider's
contract. The PKFL program currently authorizes 20%, while
the State preschool program authorizes 10% but caps the
over-income to 15% of income requirement.
5)Many of the changes in the bill are in the provisions relating
to the PKFL program as follows:
a) The requirement that eligibility be restricted to those
who will attend kindergarten the subsequent year is
deleted. This bill includes three- and four-year-olds in
the CSP program.
b) The requirement that service be provided only one year
is deleted. The CSP will enroll three-year-olds, who can
remain in the program for two years.
c) Any program located in the attendance area of deciles 1
through 3 schools will be required to meet PKFL
requirements, including the provision of parenting
education and opportunities for parents to work with their
children on interactive literacy activities.
d) Opportunities to receive $2,500 per class for family and
support services will be expanded to all programs located
in attendance areas of deciles 1 through 3 schools.
e) The SPI will establish criteria for distribution of
support funds if funds are insufficient. Currently, funds
are pro-rated if insufficient.
6)Some of the provisions in the Center Child Care program
relating to operations and definitions are deleted (EC 8244).
The author indicates that this is a drafting error and the
deleted language will be reinstated.
This bill's enactment is contingent upon enactment of SB 1629
(Steinberg), which establishes a Commission to create a state
Early Learning Quality Improvement System. The bill is
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scheduled for the April 9th Senate Education Committee hearing.
Suggested Amendments . The bill's intent to consolidate the
State Preschool, PKFL and the portion of the budget in the
General Child Care and Development program that serve three- and
four-year-olds is not clear, especially since the General Child
Care program (renamed Center Child Care in the bill) remains a
separate Article in the Chapter. According to the CDE, the
Center Child Care program must remain separate because that
program will provide services for those between birth to three
and 6 to 12. There are also requirements regarding the
operations of center providers that are applicable to all
programs. The author and sponsors indicate that there will be
amendments to the bill at a later time to correct drafting
errors and to make further clarifications. The author may wish
to incorporate in those amendments clarification of the bill's
intent, perhaps by expanding the language in the Declarations
and Findings Section of the bill to include the names of the
three specified programs, or incorporating language in the
Center Child Care provisions to clarify that three- and
four-year-olds will not be served by this program.
Arguments in Support . Superintendent Jack O'Connell states,
"Current requirements result in many agencies operating up to
five separate and different contracts with the State. As a
result, many agencies have the administrative burden of annually
accounting for five separate contracts for the provision of one
service: preschool. This complexity places a large workload on
preschool administrators and decreases the time and resources
devoted to increase program quality."
Previous Legislation . AB 2881 (Mullin), vetoed by the Governor
in 2006, would have renamed the current State Preschool Program
as the Part-Day Preschool Program and statutorily established
the Full-Day Preschool Program, among other requirements. The
Governor's veto message stated that "changing the name of the
preschool program and codifying existing practice already
outlined in contractual agreements with the California
Department of Education is not the most effective way to
accomplish the goals of this bill?.My Administration is
committed to working with early childhood development, pre-K
professionals, and other stakeholders to continue to advance the
goals of this bill."
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AB 927 (Mullin), vetoed by the Governor in 2005, would have
consolidated various existing full-day child development
programs, statutorily established them as the Full-Day
Preschools program, and required both part-day and full-day
programs to incorporate existing State Preschool and General
Child Care and Development components. The Governor's veto
message states, "I am fully supportive of enabling child care
providers to offer programs that most effectively and
efficiently serve California's children and families. In fact,
may [sic] child care providers currently operate full-day
programs by combining various child care funding received. This
bill would simply codify current practices already outlined in
contractual agreements through the California Department of
Education. Therefore, I do not believe it is necessary."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell (co-sponsor)
Children Now (co-sponsor)
Preschool California (co-sponsor)
Advancement Project
Bay Area Early Childhood Education Professional Development
Collaborative
Bay Area Council
California Child Care Resource & Referral Network
California County Superintendents Educational Services
Association
Child Development Policy Institute
FIGHT CRIME: Invest in Kids California
Low Income Investment Fund
Nuview Union School District
Options - A Child Care and Human Services Agency
Preschool California
Sacramento County Office of Education
San Mateo County Office of Education
State Coalition of Probation Organizations
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
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