Skip to content

Making sure kids are ready for kindergarten


Wednesday, June 16, 2010

San Jose Mercury News

Columnist Patty Fisher applauds Sen. Joe Simitian’s bill, SB 1381, to require children to be 5 by Sept. 1 in order to begin kindergarten.

Sen. Joe Simitian’s bill, SB 1381, isn’t a rush job designed to plug a budget hole. It’s a sound proposal to phase in the Sept. 1 start date, eventually saving $700 million a year. Half of that would go toward state-funded preschool for young fives.

It all began as a grass-roots effort by two Palo Alto teachers…The two presented Simitian with nearly 300 signatures from Palo Alto teachers supporting a cutoff change. . . . . Simitian introduced a bill and was surprised when it breezed through the Senate. “Maybe the timing was right,” he said. “The evidence is growing that this is a sensible thing for kids.”

View the full story (San Jose Mercury News)