State lawmakers have introduced a bill that would expand access to transitional kindergarten for all 4-year-olds throughout the state. Authored by Assemblymembers Kevin McCarty, Phil Ting, and Eloise Gómez Reyes and State Senators Susan Rubio, Lena Gonzalez, and Bill Dodd, AB 2500 has received support from several education advocacy organizations including Early Edge California, California School Employees Association and ACSA. In 2010, the Legislature approved the “Kindergarten Readiness Act,” which established TK to serve and educate a limited amount of 4-year-olds within the public K-12 system. Currently, only 25 percent of 4-year-olds are able to enroll in TK because they were born in the fall. This means that the majority of 4-year-olds are missing out on quality early learning opportunities that will provide them with greater academic preparedness.  AB 2500 compliments and builds upon the existing TK law and our California State Preschool Program — which currently serves more than 170,000 low-income 3- and 4-year olds — to phase in full-day, universal early learning by providing an additional year of transitional kindergarten for all 4-year-olds. With these two programs in place, low-income 3-year-olds will receive two years of quality early learning to prepare them for kindergarten and beyond. “We fundamentally believe that providing access to transitional kindergarten to more of our families is the right policy conversation to be having 10 years after the creation of the initial program,” said ACSA Executive Director Wes Smith. “We look forward to working with the Legislature to determine if we can achieve the goal of expanding TK in a way that makes sense for our California students and the schools that serve them.”  A large body of research confirms that high-quality early learning can substantially improve children’s success in K-12 school. Research further shows that California TK has reduced the need for high-cost interventions such as special education and grade retention later in life. “We know that quality early education matters for our youngest learners and for our economic future,” said Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento). “Expanding universal transitional kindergarten moves the state toward providing all families with important early learning and will help us tackle some of the stubborn issues we’re working on today, such as intergenerational poverty, the education achievement and opportunity gap, and cracking the school-to-prison pipeline.” Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), joint-author of AB 2500, said: “It’s not fair that only a quarter of California’s 4-year-olds receive an extra year of public education. We need to ensure all kids get a great start in life, and universal transitional kindergarten will lay a strong foundation for them to succeed in the classroom for years to come.”  Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-San Bernardino), joint-author of AB 2500, said: “When we increase access to high quality early learning and care programs, like transitional kindergarten, we uplift California’s children and families both in the short and long term. This is the first major step of many to build a system of universal access to California’s growing early learning and care programs, a primary goal of the Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission Final Report. I look forward to continuing the fight for our children and families to have the best access to quality education and care.” ACSA’s Governmental Relations is engaged with the authors of this bill and will update members on its progress.