Governor Drops Plan to Cut Rolls in Kindergarten : Education: Wilson also abandons other proposals to reduce school funding in hopes of gaining legislative approval of his budget. But they will be reintroduced next year, sources say.

Gov. Pete Wilson has abandoned his plan to drop 110,000 youngsters from the public kindergarten rolls next year, Administration sources said Tuesday.

The proposal would not have allowed children to enter kindergarten unless they had turned 5 years old by Sept. 1. Presently, the cutoff date is Dec. 1. The change would have resulted in an estimated one-time savings of about $335 million.

The Administration also has dropped plans to cut $325 million in state support for “categorical” programs such as special funds for poor readers and gifted students. The remaining state funds amounting to $1.2 billion were to have been lumped together into block grants to school districts, but that idea also has been dropped, Administration sources said.

A third Administration proposal to be abandoned would have changed the method of taking attendance and would have saved about $150 million next year.

Although Wilson is dropping the ideas now, in hopes of gaining legislative approval of his budget, they will be reintroduced next year, the sources said.

Wilson also is scrapping his demand for sharply increased fees for community college students. The governor had asked for a general fee increase from $5 to $20 per unit, with a maximum of $200 per semester. He also wanted students who had accumulated 90 credits to pay full cost of instruction--as much as $112 per unit.

Maureen DiMarco, Wilson’s secretary for child development and education, has been defending the idea of changing the kindergarten entrance date on grounds that too many children are sent to kindergarten before they are ready.

Parents and educators around the state have roundly denounced the idea, but Administration sources said it is being withdrawn because “the Legislature has failed in its constitutional duty to produce a balanced budget by June 30 and clearly it is too late to make this change.”

Dropping the kindergarten, categorical funding and attendance-counting cuts would restore an additional $810 million for schools, money that Wilson proposes to “prepay” the schools to take care of enrollment growth next year but that would have to be paid back in subsequent years.

In response to reports of Wilson’s change in position, state schools’ chief Bill Honig said Tuesday: “This is the same old idea, recycled. It still means cuts of $500 million or more for schools next year, plus a reduction in the funding base for schools that will cost us $3 billion over the next three years.”