PPIC: California's TK Expansion Has a 'Modest' Effect on Subsidized Child Care
California's expansion of transitional kindergarten (TK) has nudged more four-year-olds out of subsidized child care, but the disruption has been "modest" overall, according to a new study from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).
Comparing children just eligible for TK with those who narrowly missed the cutoff, the researchers found that eligible four-year-olds were 2.1 percentage points more likely to leave subsidized care in August, when the school year begins — an effect concentrated in center-based care. That is a smaller impact than many providers report feeling, the study notes, though the analysis covers only care funded through the California Child Care and Development Fund, not private programs or state preschool.
One reason for the modest effect: TK sessions are short, so families still need full-day care or use subsidized care to supplement TK. In 2024, 6.5% of four-year-olds in care attended part time, compared with about 3% for other ages.
Subsidized care is also skewing younger: infants accounted for 24% of new enrollees in 2024, up from 19% in 2019. California began phasing in TK for all four-year-olds in 2022, and enrollment more than doubled between fall 2021 and fall 2023. Parents surveyed described TK as more convenient and more like school, while some child care providers said TK's educational quality was not higher than their own programs.
Related:
UC Berkeley study finds TK alumni ahead in reading by third and fourth grade
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：幼儿在托育课堂内活动（示意照片）。照片：Vincenzo Mainardi，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Young children in a childcare classroom (illustrative). Photo: Vincenzo Mainardi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
