Top Takeaways Transitional kindergarten has been gradually expanded since 2021 and is now free for all California 4-year-olds Childcare providers were expected to care for younger children, which comes with additional licensing and staffing requirements Many providers say they need far more support and funding When one of Yolanda Thomas’ 4-year-old students left her family daycare for California’s transitional kindergarten program, she lost more than a child in her classroom. She also now had an open space that she would need to figure out how to fill. By the time the family discovered the school day did not match their work schedules and wanted to return, another child had taken the space. Since then, Thomas has felt the need to convince parents of 4-year-olds to keep their children enrolled in her daycare and licensed preschool program, something she never had to do before. Across California, childcare and preschool providers say similar disruptions have become increasingly common since the state’s expansion of free transitional kindergarten for all 4-year-olds, drawing students out of some existing programs while offering little support to help providers adapt. TK is free, and that’s hard for families to pass up, but as California’s early education landscape has shifted, many providers like Thomas say they feel left behind. In 2021, the state Legislature passed a law that gradually expanded transitional kindergarten, known as TK, into California’s newest public school grade. It made care free for all 4-year-olds, regardless of income or background, and it meant businesses like the…
