Trends in Transitional Kindergarten Enrollment in California

Early childhood education is foundational for young children’s development and their long-term outcomes, and preschool programs provide essential opportunities for 3- and 4-year-olds.¹For example, see “Predictor: Access to Preschool,” Urban Institute (webpage), accessed March 1, 2025, https://upward-mobility.urban.org/framework/education/preschool Recognizing the importance of early learning, California policymakers chose in 2021 to embark on a significant expansion of Transitional Kindergarten (TK), a specialized preschool program for 4-year-old children offered at public schools. To ensure this expansion benefits all children, it is crucial to track participation for student groups that have historically faced barriers, namely students of color and those from families with low incomes, as the challenges these students face may continue throughout their education. Given these ongoing patterns of inequity, this report highlights TK enrollment trends from 2021-22, before the age-eligibility expansion began to 2023-24, the second year of expansion and the most recent data available for these student groups.

Enrollment Increased Across All Race and Ethnicity Groups

TK enrollment has grown substantially across all racial and ethnic groups between the 2021-22 and 2023-24 school years. Overall enrollment increased by 101%, from 75,410 to 151,336 students. In 2023-24, TK enrolled 59% of eligible four-year-olds in California. While all student groups experienced significant growth, the percentage growth varied. Multi-racial students experienced the highest percentage growth (130%), followed by Asian students, who also had substantial increases (117%). Latinx students had the highest enrollment number in both years, 42,702 in 2021-22 and 83,362 in 2023-24, reflecting a percentage increase of 95%. American Indian or Alaska Native students had the lowest enrollment numbers (314 in 2021-22 and 571 in 2023-24) and the smallest percentage growth (82%).

Moving forward, the state should track take-up rates among the groups with the lowest percentage growth, including  American Indian or Alaska Native, Latinx, and Black students. Additionally, ensuring equitable access to TK will require a focus on understanding and addressing potential barriers to participation among these students.

High-Poverty Elementary Schools Have Significantly Increased Their Enrollment

Elementary schools with higher poverty levels had the largest increases in TK enrollment between 2021-22 and 2023-24. Growth in the number of students varied across schools by their overall share of students eligible for Free and Reduced Price Meals (FRPM), a proxy to identify students from low-income families.²Free and reduced-price meal eligibility (FRPM) is a measure of need based on poverty levels that the state uses as a proxy to identify students from families with low incomes. Children from households with incomes below 185 percent of the federal poverty level are considered eligible. Eligibility is based on household size and income; for example, for the 2024-25 school year, a student in a household composed of three members with an annual income at or below $47,767 would be deemed eligible and counted as low income. Complete household size and income scale: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/rs/scales2425.asp Schools in the highest FRPM category (76-100%) grew their enrollment by nearly 30,000 students, compared to about 10,000 students in schools with the lowest share of FRPM-eligible students (0-25%). The differences are primarily because there are far more schools in the highest FRPM category (1,982) than in the lowest (409).

Elementary schools in higher-poverty areas also had a significant increase in new TK programs. The following table displays the number of schools that added new TK programs — those that did not have any TK enrollment in 2021-22 — by FRPM categories. As shown in the table, 387 schools in the 76-100% FRPM category initiated new TK programs compared to 151 in the lowest FRPM category (0-25%). This shows that expansion efforts have primarily supported high-poverty schools by enabling them to establish and offer TK programs. 

A higher share of children from low-income families participate in TK. Due to the lack of publicly available data, it is challenging to accurately determine the exact number of low-income children enrolled in TK.³The California Department of Education does not publicly report counts of students eligible for FRPM by grade level. The following table displays the estimated number of students from low-income families in TK, calculated based on the overall proportion of FRPM-eligible students at each elementary school. The estimate reveals that 90,754 children from low-income families are enrolled in TK, representing 64% of total enrollment.⁴Only schools classified as “public elementary schools” are included in this estimate. The increasing role of TK in supporting low-income families also highlights the need to monitor how families utilize the program and address any potential barriers.

Overall, TK enrollment has expanded significantly, with substantial growth across all racial and ethnic groups and a notable increase in TK programs in high-poverty schools. These trends demonstrate TK’s growing role in providing early learning opportunities to more children. However, more research is needed to understand local challenges. For example, TK uptake rates from 2021-22 to 2023-24 show faster growth in low-poverty schools (79%) compared to high-poverty schools (58%), suggesting potential barriers to access that warrant further investigation to ensure equity.

To build on this significant progress, the state should prioritize equity by addressing disparities in growth and ensuring that all children, particularly those from low-income families and children of color, can benefit from TK. This includes assessing and strengthening how the broader mixed delivery preschool system supports children and their families. By focusing on these areas, the state can continue to expand access to early learning opportunities, ensuring that children from low-income families have the strong foundation they need to succeed in school and beyond.

Early learning is foundational for young children’s development, and preschool programs provide essential opportunities for 3- and 4-year-olds. Recognizing this, in 2021, California policymakers embarked on a significant expansion of Transitional Kindergarten (TK), a specialized preschool program for 4-year-old children offered at public schools. This ambitious expansion is backed by substantial state investment, reflecting a commitment to broaden access to preschool education. To support the multi-year plan, the state has allocated billions of dollars in one-time and ongoing funding. Through these investments, TK will be universally available to all four-year-old children in California by the 2025-26 school year.

How Policy Decisions Shaped the Expansion of Transitional Kindergarten

The TK program has been in place since 2012.¹Senate Bill 1381 (Simitian, Chapter 705, Statutes of 2010), https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100SB1381 Its original purpose was to provide preschool education for four-year-old children who, based on the month they were born, were no longer eligible to enroll in kindergarten after the state adjusted the age cutoff for kindergarten admission — creating TK also allowed school districts to continue claiming Average Daily Attendance (ADA) for these students.²SB 1381 (Simitian) Essentially, this policy change prevented four-year-olds from being admitted to kindergarten if they turned five later in the year after enrolling in kindergarten.³Assembly Committee on Education analysis of Senate Bill 1381 (Simitian), June 1, 2010, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100SB1381# After a gradual implementation of this policy, during the 2014-15 school year, four-year-old children had to turn five on or before September 1st to be admitted into kindergarten. At the same time, certain four-year-olds no longer eligible for kindergarten were admitted into TK. Specifically, from 2014-15 until 2022-23, four-year-old children were eligible for TK if they had their fifth birthday between September 2nd and December 2nd.

In 2021-22, state leaders initiated another multi-year policy through the state budget to significantly grow the TK program, implementing a five-year plan that gradually increases age eligibility based on the month a child was born.⁴This expansion is part of a broader initiative, Universal PreKindergarten (UPK), aimed at bringing together preschool programs to ensure all children have access to early learning experiences the year before they start kindergarten. The increase in eligibility is primarily backed by allocating additional funding to school districts to implement the expansion. By the end of the expansion plan, in 2025-26, the program will be open to all four-year-old children who turn four by September 1.

The State Has Invested Billions of Dollars to Support Transitional Kindergarten

To carry out the expansion plan, state leaders agreed to provide the needed resources to initiate the expansion and sustain the program going forward. So far, the state budget has provided a mix of both one-time and ongoing resources. Those are outlined below:

• One-time resources have been allocated to build foundational elements of the program. The state has provided more than $1 billion since 2021-22 in one-time dollars for TK planning and implementation grants, facilities, and efforts to support the preschool teacher workforce — some of this funding was also available to support the California State Preschool Program (CSPP) and kindergarten.
• The state is increasing ongoing funding for TK to accommodate the substantial growth in attendance resulting from the expansion. TK is supported by the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which uses attendance to generate funding allocations to school districts (more details are provided in the “How Proposition 98 and the LCFF Support Transitional Kindergarten” section below). As of 2024-25 the state has provided an estimated $1.4 billion to account for the growth in attendance — this number tends to change when districts update and report their attendance numbers throughout the school year. Under current attendance projections the state would provide an additional $876 million in 2025-26, which would mark full expansion of the program. Attendance projections in prior years have overestimated TK uptake and attendance. Therefore, for 2025-26, the projected funding may be lower than currently proposed once attendance is collected and reported.
• The state is increasing ongoing funding to improve staffing ratios in TK. As shown in the chart, an estimated $517 million has been allocated in 2024-25 to maintain a 1:12 adult-to-student ratio in TK classrooms. The 2025-26 budget proposes an additional $952 million to reduce ratios to 1:10, which would grow to a total of nearly $1.5 billion for this purpose. These dollars help maintain current staffing levels and would bring thousands of additional teachers and instructional aides to TK classrooms.⁵Districts that fail to meet staffing ratios face penalties that result in loss of funding. There are also penalties for not meeting class size requirements or teacher education requirements.

California has dedicated significant funding to schools to support the expansion of TK, including resources for planning grants, staffing, and attendance growth. This investment has facilitated substantial enrollment growth. However, realizing the full potential of this expansion requires addressing several key challenges. Securing and retaining a qualified TK workforce is essential, as staffing challenges could hinder the program’s effectiveness. Additionally, a continued focus on equitable access and consistent student attendance, particularly among low-income families is crucial. By addressing these key areas, California can maximize the impact of its investments and ensure four-year-olds benefit from this expansion.

In 2021, state leaders passed the California Community School Partnership Act, establishing the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP). The program aims to address barriers to learning and development exacerbated by poverty and the COVID-19 pandemic. Through trauma-informed and integrated educational, health, and mental health services, community schools are designed to meet the diverse needs of students. By fostering partnerships and expanding learning opportunities, they promote whole-child education, equitable outcomes, academic success, well-being, and positive school climates.

To support this strategy, legislation allocated over $3 billion in funding, later increased by $1.1 billion, for a total of more than $4.1 billion. These funds primarily support grants for establishing or expanding community schools, among other uses. Administered by the California Department of Education (CDE), the program has provided two rounds of planning grants, and three rounds of implementation grants to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs), which include school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education.  Eligibility requirements focus on LEAs and schools with higher proportions of low-income students (based on Free or Reduced-Price Meal eligibility), foster youth, or English Learners.

Implementation Grants

This report focuses on key trends for the first three cohorts of schools that have received implementation grants so far. These multi-year grants represent the majority of the CCSPP funding. Between 2021-22 and 2023-24, nearly 500 LEAs were awarded grants, directing funding to more than 2,000 schools. Priority was given to districts with schools where 80% or more of the enrollment consists of “unduplicated students,” which includes English learners, foster youth, or low-income students. 

As expected, the chart below shows that, across all three cohorts, most grantee schools serve 80% to 100% of unduplicated students, with 933 schools enrolling 90% to 100% of such students receiving the bulk of funding. This demonstrates an equitable distribution of resources, aligning with the program’s intent to prioritize directing resources to schools with the highest concentrations of underserved students.

School-level data show that implementation grants are supporting schools with higher proportions of students of color, overlapping with priority groups such as low-income students, English Learners, and foster youth. Latinx, Black, and Indigenous students are overrepresented in grantee schools compared to non-grantee schools, with Latinx students — the largest student population — benefiting the most, as shown in the chart below. For other race and ethnicity categories, enrollment shares are similar or lower at grantee schools. These trends suggest that implementation grants align with the program’s focus on priority student groups, though some populations may benefit less than others.

Overall, these trends demonstrate that the allocation methodology aligns with the program’s intent. However, not all priority schools have received funding. The chart below highlights approximately 2,700 schools with high proportions (80 percent or more) of English Learners, foster youth, and low-income students that have not been funded. 924 of these schools are in LEAs that have received planning grants but would benefit from additional resources to implement their community schools strategy, while 1,767 are in LEAs that did not receive planning grants. Funding just those 924 schools in LEAs that have received planning grants would cost about $1.3 billion, far exceeding the $680 million left for these grants.

CDE is currently accepting applications for the fourth and final round of implementation grants under the program. For this round, CDE should maintain its focus on high-needs schools, as in previous rounds. Initial research from the first cohort indicates that schools have utilized the funding to integrate a range of supports, foster positive school climates, and enrich their curriculum. Additionally, case-studies highlight the potential of community schools to address both school-based and external barriers, including improving attendance. State leaders should consider renewing or expanding this block grant to ensure schools receive sustainable support to meet student needs and create lasting change. Without continued funding, many high-needs schools risk losing critical services and programs established under CCSPP.