Relates to strengthening early childhood education by requiring full-day kindergarten and lowering the age of compulsory attendance to age five

Section 2 of the bill would amend the definition of "child of compulsory school age" in subdivision 11 § 2 of the Education Law to make it consistent with the changes in the compulsory attendance requirements of Education Law § 3205.

Sections 3 through 5 of the bill would amend Education Law §§ 1712, 2514(1) and 2555(1) to make it mandatory for all school districts to provide kindergarten and to require that in the 2011-2012 school year and thereafter, all such kindergartens be operated on a full-time basis. The bill also clarifies that the authority of a board of education to prescribe a higher minimum age for admission to kindergartens must be exercised in a manner consistent with Education Law § 3202(1) on the entitlement to public education and Education Law § 3205 on compulsory attendance.

Section 6 of the bill amends subdivisions 1 and 2 of Education Law § 3205 to lower the compulsory age to five, with an exception for children whose parents elect to delay their entry into kindergarten by one year, until the school year in which the child becomes six years of age.

Paragraph c of subdivision 1 of Education Law § 3205 is amended to provide that a minor who becomes 5 years of age on or before December 1st, or a later date established by the trustees or board of education for admission to kindergarten but not later than December 31st, must attend upon full-time instruction from the first day the public schools are in session in September of the school year in which they turn 5. Children who become age 5 after December 1st, or such later date established by the trustees or board of education, would be required to attend upon full-time instruction in September of the following school year.

Paragraph c of subdivision 2 of Education Law § 3205 is amended to create an exception to compulsory education for children who become age 5 during a school year and whose parents submit a notice of election to the superintendent of schools of their school district indicating that they do not elect to enroll in school until the first day of session in September of the following school year. Under this bill, school districts must notify parents of their right to make this election by no later than March 1 preceding the school year in which the child becomes 5, and parents are required to submit their notice of election by April 1. The bill provides that a superintendent of schools may not reject a notice of election as untimely where the district failed to provide timely notice to the parent or the delay was caused by factors beyond the control of the parents, including but not limited to the parents' absence from the state or country· for military service, the parents' incapacity due to illness or disability, disruption of mail service due to severe weather conditions, loss of electricity or other emergency conditions and the parents' inability to understand the school district's notice because it was not submitted in the native language or other mode of communication used by the parent. The Commissioner would be authorized to prescribe the form for a parent's notice of election and to adopt regulations to implement these procedures. The language also clarifies that a school district cannot deny admission to a child whose parent previously filed a notice of election under this subdivision. Once admitted, however, the child will be required to attend upon full-time instruction.

Section 7 of the bill amends Education Law § 3602(9) on aid for conversion to full-day kindergarten to reflect that kindergarten will no longer be optional and full-day kindergarten will be required in the 2011-2012 school year and thereafter.

Section 8 of the bill amends subdivision 2 of section 3641 of the Education Law to make the full-day kindergarten transition planning grants authorized by section 38 of Part B of Chapter 57 of the Laws of 2007 available to school districts in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years. Each school district would only be eligible for one planning grant in the school year preceding conversion to full day kindergarten, and such conversion would have to occur by no later than the 2011-2012 school year.

Section 9 is the effective date.

Statement in support of the bill

Research is clear and overwhelming that early education is the key educational strategy for ensuring all children acquire the skills needed for academic success. We know that how a child reads at the end of first grade predicts with 88% reliability how the child will read at the end of third grade. We know that the knowledge and skills acquired by age six correlate positively with later academic success in school and in later life. Current research is strong in providing evidence that full-day kindergarten is highly effective. The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIER) found that high quality full-day kindergarten provides children with a greater degree of academic and social and emotional success. A study by Denton, West and Watson found that students had higher reading skills when they participated in full-day kindergarten. Lee and Burkum from the University of Michigan found that children who attended full-day kindergarten learn more literacy and math than children who attend half-day classes. We also know that there is no effective catch-up curriculum. When a student falls behind academically, it is very difficult and fiscally prohibitive to close achievement gaps. The one strategy that is highly effective is early education so children do not fall behind in the first instance.

In addition to the academic research, economists have provided ample evidence of the high cost effectiveness of early education. As a long-term strategy, early education has strong economic benefits reflected in lower dropout rates, less need for special education or remedial programs. Economist Clive Belfield projects a 2: 1 cost saving. The Perry Preschool longitudinal study found a 4:1 savings and Steve Barnett at NEIR found a 7:1 cost saving. Most recently a conference jointly held by the Minnesota Federal Reserve Board and ECD presented Nobel Prize winner James Heckman's paper showing that early intervention has high benefit cost ratios and rate of returns.

There is no other area of education where so much research from many fields converge to tell us that early education is a must. And yet our current system does align with this research. Kindergarten is not a required component of our public school system. When districts are faced with fiscal constraints, they look to cut non-mandated programs and kindergarten is usually first on the block. Even if the district decides to provide kindergarten, it may choose to shift to half-day kindergarten, which is less costly to deliver. Either way, for purely fiscal reasons the student receives less instructional time prior to entry into first grade than his or her counterparts in districts that provide full-day kindergarten. When full-day kindergarten is not provided by the public schools, the negative impact is greatest on low-income families who lack the resources to enroll their child in a private kindergarten. As a matter of equity, all students in all school districts should have the same access to public, full-day kindergarten.

The window of public school early education is very -short and we must maximize this time in a child's life. Look at our system from the viewpoint of a first grade teacher. On the first day of school such a teacher may have children with no previous pre-kindergarten experience, with either full-day or half-day pre-kindergarten experience, with no kindergarten or with half-day or full-day kindergarten. A first grade teacher must take an extraordinary amount of class time to ensure that all the children are on a level skill basis. This renders the teacher less effective than if the students entered first grade with the same set of skills. Currently, approximately 600 out of 681 districts have full-day kindergarten. Major organizations such as the New York State United Teachers, School Administrators Association of New York State, New York State Association for the Education of Young Children and Fight Crime: Invest in Kids are very supportive of this proposal. There is overwhelming support for full-day kindergarten to be a required critical component of New York public education system.

Recognizing that not all children develop at the same rate and that not all parents believe their children are ready to attend school at age 5, this bill would establish a process that would allow parents of children who turn 5 on or before December 1, or a later date for admissions established by the local school district (up to December 31), to elect not to have their child subject to compulsory attendance in the school year in which they turn age 5. By filing a notice of election to delay the entry of their child into kindergarten for one year by April 1st preceding such school year, such parents could opt to hold their child out of school. The child would continue to be entitled to attend school at age 5 to the same extent as under law, so that the parents could change their mind and enroll their child in school, at which point the child becomes subject to compulsory attendance.

To avoid dislocations and the negative fiscal impact that would result if full-day kindergarten became mandatory and compulsory attendance was lowered in one year, this bill contains a delayed effective date of July 1, 2011 for all its provisions except the technical amendments made to Education Law § 3602(9) on full-day kindergarten conversion aid by section 7 of the bill. This will allow affected school districts three years to plan and implement the changes required by the shift to full-day kindergarten and any increases in enrollment that will result from lowering the compulsory age -- from hiring new teachers, to developing a full-day curriculum, to providing new full-day kindergarten classrooms while meeting the district's other facilities needs. It would also provide time for nonpublic kindergartens to expand their capacities, since parents whose children became subject to compulsory attendance at age 5 always have the option of enrolling their children in a nonpublic school. To assure that State funding is available to school districts that incur planning casts related to conversion to full-day kindergarten in the 2009-2010 or 2010-2011, this bill would make full-day kindergarten transition planning grants, which were made available in the 2007-2008 school year, available for an additional two years.

Budgetary implications of the bill

It is estimated that this bill would result in the following additional costs to the State and local school districts by State fiscal year, assuming that an equal number of school districts will opt to convert to full-day kindergarten over a two year period commencing in 2010-2011, with full day transition planning grants of $4.4 million available in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 and full implementation by 2011-2012. Projected costs in 2012-2013 represent the second year of statewide implementation:

School Year State Costs Local Costs

2009-2019 $ 4,400,000 0 2010-2011 $32,400,000 $28,000,000 2011-2012 $61,000,000 $61,000,000 2012-2013 $66,000,000 $66,000,000

Prior legislative history

In the 2006 Legislative Session, this bill was introduced in the Assembly as A.1l915, was referred to the Assembly Education Committee and no further action was taken. In the 2007 Legislative Session, this bill was introduced in the Assembly as A.8688.

Effective date

This act shall take effect July 1,2009, provided that if this act shall become a law after July 1, 2009, this act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to have been in full force and effect on and after July 1, 2009; provided further that sections one, two, three, four, five and six of this act shall take effect July 1, 2011.