Golden State Today

On May 16, the California Department of Education (CDE) released annual enrollment data for the 2023–24 school year. The data showed a continued but slowing decrease in overall enrollment. However, there were significant bright spots, including a doubling of enrollment in transitional kindergarten (TK) over the last two years, from 75,465 in 2021–22 to 151,491 in 2023–24.

This historic growth in TK reflects significant investment in early learning. This includes $500 million in Universal PreKindergarten (UPK) Planning and Implementation Grants; a statewide communications campaign to raise awareness of free, public early learning programs; and state-level support of UPK expansion across California’s 1,000 school districts through coaching and technical assistance of UPK coordinators across the state.

Despite the slight statewide decrease in overall enrollment, some local trends are positive. Inyo County shows the largest increase in student enrollment with a growth of 6.4% from the previous year. Enrollment figures for charter schools and private schools do not show a corresponding increase when compared to the continued decrease in traditional public school enrollment. This suggests that continually suppressed enrollment numbers more likely reflect family disengagement than school competition.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond commented on this trend: “I am very grateful to see this exciting outlook for our earliest learners,” he said. “We know how important it is for support for every child to read by third grade, and a critical part of that effort is to make sure that our youngest students are supported to have healthy development in their early years."

As California continues to recover from pandemic-era disruptions of school enrollment, family engagement remains a key area of focus for state and local educators. Thurmond has championed a whole child, whole family approach to transforming public schools since taking office as California’s 28th State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2019.

Last week, CDE announced $1.3 billion in support for the continued expansion of the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP) in 1,000 schools across the state. CCSPP has become the largest single investment in community schools anywhere in the nation.

For more information on community schools and UPK and TK, please visit the CDE California Community Schools web page and Universal PreKindergarten FAQs and Transitional Kindergarten FAQs on the CDE website.