Drive for universal pre- school wins Latino support

SACRAMENTO, California (Press Release) – A new Field Poll reveals that ninety-one percent of registered Latino voters in California believe it is either somewhat or very important to make publicly-supported preschool available to all four-year old children. Seventy-five percent of registered Latino voters feel that the projected cost of implementing universal preschool in California is worth the investment.

California Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D – Sacramento), author of the bill central to the polling, issues the following statement:

“Overwhelmingly, Latino voters believe that the Senate Democratic ‘Fair Start’ proposal is worth the upfront investment. I am not surprised. Californians intuitively understand that the more you invest in success up front, the less you spend remediating failure at the end. Latinos comprise over fifty-two percent of kids currently enrolled in California’s public education system. Quite simply, our ‘Fair Start’ proposal boils down to a huge investment in creating opportunity for the newest generation of Californian Latinos.”

“Study after study shows that preschool is a smart and prudent investment. Kids who have access to high quality preschool are eighty percent more likely to attend college and their average incomes are thirty-three percent greater than those who didn’t. Right now in California, too few of our children have this opportunity. The rest are left behind. I look forward to building on our momentum with this significant support from the Latino communities.”

The Kindergarten Readiness Act to strengthen early language development and reduce the achievement gap for children entering their first year of school is supported by business and military leaders, law enforcement, parents groups and educators.

SB 837 (Steinberg) would make one year of voluntary, high quality “transitional kindergarten” (preschool) available to every four-year-old in California, expanding a current program for which only 25 percent of the state’s four-year-olds are eligible. A second measure, the Strong Children, Strong Families Act (SB 1123, Liu), would support increased full-day preschool for children from birth to age three.

On average, 5-year olds from low-income families are already more than two years behind their higher-income peers in language development by the time they enter Kindergarten. A 2010 study by Nobel Laureate economist James Heckman shows that every dollar invested in high quality early education generates seven dollars in returns. Those investment returns come in a number of areas, including savings from fewer grade retentions and special education placements, lower crime rates and higher lifetime earnings.

Statewide, 67 percent of children in kindergarten through third grade are identified as low income, English learners or foster youth who need substantial extra support. The percentage of four-year-olds in that category is likely even higher. SB 837 not only makes transitional kindergarten available to all four-year-olds, it also improves the program with higher learning standards, and adult-child classroom ratio of ten-to-one, and more early education training for teachers and classroom aides.

A California Department of Education fiscal analysis estimates that expansion of transitional kindergarten will cost an average of $300 million in additional Proposition 98 funding each year during the five-year phase-in period, for a total additional cost of $1.46 billion at full implementation in the 2019-20 school year.

Helping to offset that cost are estimated annual savings of $1.1 billion through lower K-3 grade retention and special education costs, in addition to more than one billion dollars in longer term savings in the criminal justice system.

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Preceding provided by State Senate President pro tempore Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) … San Diego Jewish World invites attention from sponsors who would like their messages to run beneath topical stories.  Contact donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com