Calif. Bill Seeks to Raise Age for Kindergarten

Four-year-olds may soon find themselves shut out of kindergarten in California.

A bill moving through the state Legislature would require children to have turned 5 by Sept. 1 to begin kindergarten in that school year. The current cut-off date is Dec. 2, one of the latest in the country.

Nearly one-quarter of the state's 430,000 kindergarten students start before their 5th birthday.

Supporters of the bill, SB1381, say most 4-year-olds are simply unprepared for the rigors of today's kindergarten classrooms. That's because kindergarten today focuses more on preparing students to take standardized tests than on fingerpainting.

Holding 4-year-olds back another year could save the state $700 million per year.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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