

The phase-in will begin with children who turn 5 between Sept. Because they are part of local school districts, transitional kindergarten teachers make about the same as kindergarten teachers, and significantly more than preschool teachers who serve the same age group.

#Transitional kindergarten full
“Kindergarten enrollment dropped tremendously over the past year, and being able to offer transitional kindergarten for all 4-year-olds is a way to engage families when their kids are younger.”Įxperts estimate the program would serve almost 300,000 children when it reaches full capacity in 2024, adding transitional kindergarten to virtually every elementary school campus in the state. “Universal TK is a tremendous opportunity to build up young learners’ social and emotional skills,” said Hana Ma, senior policy analyst at Education Trust–West, an Oakland-based research and advocacy group. Moreover, many families simply kept young children out of kindergarten and preschool during the closures rather than position their youngsters in front of a computer for schooling. The pandemic has exacerbated such inequities, they said. His focus lines up with the recommendations of many experts, who note that an early start to academic and social development for youngsters has been out of reach for many, especially children from low-income families. Enormous amounts already have been spent on safety measures, technology, and student and staff support enormous amounts remain to be spent.īut most of the previously allotted funding is one-time money, whereas Newsom’s proposal envisions a permanent expansion of the state’s education offerings and strategy. Estimates are it could provide a savings account for as many as 3.8 million California schoolchildren.įor school districts, the funding proposal is expected to bring an unaccustomed flood of state and federal resources as educators plot out a recovery from yearlong pandemic-forced campus closures.Įven without this proposed infusion, Los Angeles Unified, the state’s second-largest school system, was looking at one-time aid well in access of $5 billion since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The $2-billion program would be funded mostly by a portion of the state’s share of money from the American Rescue Plan, signed into law by President Biden in March. The state would also establish a $500 college savings account for every California student from a low-income family with an additional $500 for foster youth and those who are homeless. Those plans include additional after-school and summer programs in low-income communities, $4 billion for youth mental health support, more than $3.3 billion for teacher and school employee training and $3 billion to encourage the development of “community schools,” where education is integrated with healthcare and mental health services in communities with high poverty rates.
#Transitional kindergarten series
The expanded transitional kindergarten program would take effect for the 2022-23 school year and would be phased in over three years.įunded by unprecedented growth in state tax revenues, the effort is one of a series of far-reaching education proposals Newsom will send to the Legislature at the end of the week in his revised state budget.
