TORRANCE, Calif. (KNX) - The Los Angeles Unified School District will offer transitional kindergarten to every 4-year-old in the district for the coming school year, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced Friday.
California has spent nearly $3 billion on an effort to enroll nearly 400,000 children in transitional kindergarten, also known as pre-kindergarten, by 2025. Although those numbers are lagging statewide, Carvahlo says the LAUSD will meet their target two years ahead of schedule.
The district will have universal transitional kindergarten programs in place at all of its 488 elementary schools this coming year.
State Superintendent Tony Thurman says there are a lot of benefits to transitional kindergarten, from practicing social skills to getting ready to learn how to read. That extra year of class time could help keep students on track all the way through high school.
“It is a fact that students who learn to read by third grade will graduate and engage in some level of post secondary education. Those who do not learn to read by third grade sadly drop out, and more times than not are at greater risk of ending up in the criminal justice system,” Thurman said.
There are already 14,000 students enrolled in LAUSD transitional kindergarten programs, and Carvahlo said that figure will grow by another 10,000 to 11,000 students this year. The district has been aggressively recruiting new teachers to help with the influx, with 2300 already hired so far this year.
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