Poll finds most Californians support mandatory kindergarten

Most Californians favor mandatory kindergarten, a new Los Angeles Times poll found, showing a split with Gov. Gavin Newsom who recently vetoed legislation that would have required it.

The poll found that 57% of likely voters favored making kindergarten a requirement while 33% opposed it. Support was divided along partisan lines, however, with 70% of Democrats backing the proposed law and 58% of Republicans opposing it. No party preference voters supported mandatory kindergarten by a 56% to 33% margin, according to the newspaper.

Newsom vetoed the bill, citing the estimated $268 million annual cost, despite his strong advocacy for early education programs during his time as governor.

“The Democrats and the liberals were strongly behind that idea,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, which conducted the poll with the newspaper. “It’s kind of counterintuitive for Newsom to have vetoed it. I don’t really get it because he’s been in favor of early childhood education.”