Plan To Scrap Kindergarten Program Spurs Protest
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California educators and childcare advocates are protesting Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to scrap a new program for kids who are no longer old enough for kindergarten.
The governor's budget plan doesn't provide money for "transitional kindergarten," a new grade level created when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation to raise the age for regular kindergarten.
That law pushes back the date by which children must turn 5 to enter kindergarten from Dec. 2 to Sept. 1. The change will be phased in one month at a time over three years starting in 2012.
About 120,000 kids are expected to qualify for transitional kindergarten annually when the law takes full effect in 2014.
Advocates plan to speak out against the governor's proposal Friday at the annual gathering of the California Kindergarten Association in Santa Clara.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
