Courtesy: Los Angeles Unified School District
The Los Angeles Unified School District says it’s on track to roll out universal transitional kindergarten, or UTK, this coming fall — two years ahead of the state’s deadline for all public elementary schools.
This past academic year, 317 elementary schools within the district had TK programs — which accommodated roughly 13,800 students.
The nation’s second-largest district is hoping that number will grow to 25,000 students across 488 elementary schools this coming academic year. However, their TK enrollment has declined significantly since the 2019-20 academic year, according to data from the California Department of Education and LAUSD.
“High-quality early learning, if they really have these opportunities, sets [children] up to be successful in school,” said UCLA education assistant professor Anna Markowitz. “And then sort of beyond this, they are able to navigate their world, sort of confidently and curiously.”
Who is eligible for LAUSD’s expanded TK program?
LAUSD’s TK program will be open to all children who turn 4 years old on or before Sept. 1.
What if my child is undocumented?
Children — regardless of their immigration status — can safely participate in LAUSD’s UTK program.
Does my child have to go to the local elementary school for TK?
The assumption is that students will attend their resident school, as is the case with K-12 education at LAUSD.
But if parents would like their child to attend school elsewhere, there are ways to make it happen through applying for an intradistrict permit, to one of the CHOICES programs or by checking open enrollment.
What is the classroom structure like?
LAUSD’s transitional kindergarten is a full-day program, usually from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and each classroom has 24 children.
The student-teacher ratio is 12:1, so each classroom will have both a credentialed teacher and an instructional aide.
Does UTK make special accommodations for children with disabilities?
LAUSD has adopted an “inclusion environment” for students with disabilities, and classes designed to support these children will be staffed differently.
Each classroom with students with disabilities will comprise eight special education students and 16 general education students. They will be taught by a general education teacher, a special education teacher, plus two paraprofessionals.
What about meals?
Children in LAUSD’s TK program are provided the same breakfast and lunch options as the rest of the students enrolled at the elementary school.
What are the benefits of TK at LAUSD?
Having exposure to classroom settings before kindergarten is associated with higher levels of literacy and mathematical knowledge.
In fact, a study released by the American Institutes on Research found that children who attended TK were sometimes five months ahead of their peers who didn’t.
“If [children] do not possess the readiness skills to learn, then we know that the inevitable will happen,” district Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said in a news conference about the UTK program. “That means that by third grade, they will have fallen behind grade-level proficiency in reading and numeracy. Probably, by middle school — sixth, seventh grade — they will be significantly below grade-level performance. And their ability to graduate on time or at all may be compromised.”
TK is also about having exposure to classroom settings and other children, which can be beneficial to young students’ social and emotional growth.
“It’s very hard … to overstate how hard it is to be little,” said Markowitz, the education professor at UCLA. “You don’t know how to manage your body and calm it down. You’ll be able to watch a kid have a tantrum, and it’s like they’re not even mad anymore. … They’re upset that they feel upset.”
“Being in a space where a teacher is, you know, going to be there helping you calm down … can be really helpful. And there’s something important about the stimulation of being with other children to have these practice experiences.”
Financially, it’s also a plus.
The LAUSD transitional kindergarten program is free. By comparison, in LA County, it costs nearly $13,000 annually to send a preschool-age child to a child care center on average and almost $11,000 for a family child care home.
“You’re creating opportunities for those (educational) experiences to be more equitable, so kids from a variety of different backgrounds and families have the opportunity to come together and kind of share these stimulating exercises that are going to help them learn and grow at a faster rate,” Markowitz said.
What are the downsides to TK at LAUSD?
Many parents and community members have voiced concerns about the district’s ability to fully staff its universal TK program.
Several — including district parent Terra Collins — have also claimed local elementary schools do not yet have the physical infrastructure to accommodate a large influx of younger students with different classroom and playtime needs.
“It’s very swift and unprepared,” Collins said. “There aren’t answers, and school sites don’t feel prepared for this influx.”
That lack of preparedness, she fears, could lead to a “bad experience” for the kids, resulting in parents choosing to educate their children elsewhere if they can afford it.
“I get why they (LAUSD) need to add fish to the pond,” Collins said. “At the same time, they have an exit and fish swim [upstream]. … If you just closed the gate and made it a nice environment, the fish would populate themselves.”
Markowitz added that the district needs to figure out “what to do with these younger and younger kids, for whom learning just will not look like what it looks like for older kids,” especially in “anticipating loud, play-based classrooms because that’s what learning sounds like” at that age.
How do I enroll my child in LAUSD’s TK program?
The district accepts both online and paper enrollment forms, which are available at each school site. Enrollment is also ongoing, so there’s no deadline to apply.
But before submitting enrollment forms, parents should have ready: proof of their residence, their child’s age, their own identity and evidence that their child has been immunized.
How is the rest of the state doing?
More than a third of local education agencies, or LEAs, across the state, plan to roll out UTK before the state’s deadline, according to reports from the Learning Policy Institute.
Roughly two-thirds of local agencies say they have enough facility space, but about 80% reported not having the staffing. An April report indicated that between 12,000 and 16,000 credentialed teachers will need to be hired across California before the 2025–26 academic year.