BILL PROPOSED TO RAISE AGE OF KINDERGARTNERS : MOVE WOULD EASE CLASS CROWDING, RUNNER SAYS.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

As his first legislative act, newly elected Assemblyman George Runner has introduced a bill that would raise the minimum age for kindergartners, requiring children born after Sept. 1 to wait a year.

Runner, chief executive officer of the private Desert Christian Schools in Lancaster, wants to limit each year's kindergarten class to children who turn 5 before Sept. 1, instead of Dec. 2 as at present - reducing the first year's enrollment by 80,000 to 90,000 children statewide.

``It will provide significant benefit for both students and all children in California because of the amount of money that would be available for class-size reduction and facilities,'' said Runner, R-Lancaster. ``Academically, it will make for stronger students in California.''

Many children aren't ready to start school before they are 5, Runner said. In addition, the change would temporarily ease the space problem schools statewide face in trying to cut class sizes in the lower grades, he said.

The 1996-97 state budget set aside $771 million to finance a plan to reduce the pupil-to-teacher ratio to 20-to-1 in kindergarten through third grade.

Under the plan, schools that reduce class sizes will receive up to $650 per student this year in additional state funding, as well as $25,000 for each classroom building purchased to lower class size. Those funds, however, do not cover the full cost of implementing the plan.

School districts receive money from the state based on the number of students who attend classes on a daily basis. With smaller enrollments in kindergarten, Runner said, his plan would make available at least $400 million - based on an average funding per student of $5,000 - to pay for more teachers and portable classroom buildings.

The bill, if approved, could take effect as early as next school year, but Runner said the more likely starting date is the following school year in 1998-99.

The change will help students become more academically competitive, Runner said. Studies show that older children tend to receive higher grades than younger kids in the same grade, he said.

``As an educator, our experience has been that the child with an autumn birth date oftentimes struggles academically'' because of immaturity, said Runner, whose school has the same kindergarten cut-off date as public schools. ``It's well-established that a later start helps students be more successful.''

With the spread of year-round class schedules, schools often start in July - meaning the youngest kindergarten pupils would not turn 5 until more than four months into the school year.

Cindy Hagen, Parent-Teacher Association president at Joshua Hills School in the Palmdale school district, thinks changing the age limit is a good idea based on the experiences of her son, who is now in the fifth grade. She said he did not suffer academically, but socially lagged behind his older classmates.

``He had a real tough time, not academically but mature-wise,'' Hagen said. ``His maturity level was not as far along as the rest of the kids.''

Hagen noted that a friend of hers kept her daughter back a year and said it was the best thing she could have done for her child.

Gov. Pete Wilson unsuccessfully proposed a similar plan four years ago as a budget-cutting measure, but it ran into stiff opposition and never became law. Runner said his proposal retains the money for educational purposes.

``Our issue is not balancing the budget. Our issue is keeping it available in education to use it for other issues in education,'' Runner said.

There has been a steady move by other states to change their kindergarten cut-off dates to late summer or early autumn, with 17 states changing it to an earlier deadline in the 1980s, Runner said in a written statement issued Thursday.