California lawmakers have voted to raise the age of the state’s kindergartners by shifting the birthday deadline for 4-year-olds allowed to attend kindergarten from Dec. 2 to Sept. 1.
The legislation, passed late last month, calls for “transitional” kindergarten for 4-year-olds who miss the new cutoff, to be paid for with funds that would have been sent to kindergartens under the old system.
The state PTA backed the change with transitional kindergarten included in the plan. Several districts have already launched transitional programs, including Palo Alto and Orange County.