California’s K-12 Enrollment Is Down, but Transitional Kindergarten Is Growing Like a Weed

Amid a K-12 public school enrollment drop, California’s transitional kindergarten population is doubling in size, but several local districts are struggling to find enough transitional kindergarten teachers to maintain a proper student -teacher ratio. Recently released data by the state Education Department show that total K-12 enrollment in California public schools for 2023-24 was 5,837,690 students–a decrease of 0.25 percent or 15,000 students from the previous year. However, the department points out in a May 16 statement that the number of children enrolled in transitional kindergarten–which serves as a bridge between preschool and kindergarten for some children–rose from 75,465 during the 2021–22 school year to 151,491 in 2023–24....