Two Southern California lawmakers have introduced legislation requiring that kindergarten be mandatory starting in 2026 — despite a similar bill that was vetoed in 2022.
State Sen. Susan Rubio, who authored the 2022 bill, said the measure is necessary to help close learning gaps, especially in the early years.
“I saw firsthand what happens in the classroom when students come in unprepared,” said Rubio, who taught at an elementary school in Monrovia. “They don't know how to sit. They don't know how to hold a pencil … just collaborating with their peers is very difficult.”
Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi of Torrance has introduced similar legislation in the Assembly.
Kindergarten is optional for families in California, along with most other states. Students are only required to enroll in school in California by the time they’re 6 years old.
Pre-pandemic, the California Department of Education estimated 5% of eligible students didn’t attend a public or a private kindergarten. But those estimates have risen. In the 2022-23 school year, an estimated 11% of eligible children were not enrolled, according to the California Department of Education.
It’s not clear where all these children are who aren’t in school. But Rubio said students she encountered while teaching were kept at home in the year before first grade because parents didn’t believe it was necessary and deferred to the school system's rules.
“It's not that they don't care. It's the message that we're sending that we don't value kindergarten,” she said. “So we see that in communities of color more often than not, that those are the ones that are staying home and that's where you see the disparities just growing exponentially.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation in 2022, citing the additional costs of enrolling more kindergarteners. Rubio says mandating the grade would be building on the investment that the state is making in offering universal pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds by 2025.
Deborah Stipek, emeritus professor of education at Stanford, says expectations at the kindergarten level are much higher than they used to be.
“So when kids get to first grade, they're going to be expected to develop skills that are fairly advanced, and if they don't have the prerequisite skills, they're going to flounder,” she said.
Paula Merrigan, a teacher who’s taught kindergarten in the Bay Area, said she tells parents kindergarten isn’t what they experienced as kids.
“You're expected to start reading chapter books by the end [of first grade]. How are you going to do that if you don't know your letters, you don't know your sounds? That's what we teach you in kindergarten,” she said.
Patricia Lozano, executive director of Early Edge California, says she hopes the bill sends a message to families that early learning is important, especially as chronic absenteeism has also risen post-pandemic, particularly among early grades.
“A year for a child is a lot of time because the brain is developing and making all these connections. Not having those opportunities to learn, it's huge.” Lozano said.
