More than 33,000 California 4 year olds from low-income families are not enrolled in any of the publicly-funded school readiness program for which they are eligible, according to new policy brief “Unmet Need for Preschool Services in California: Statewide and Local Analysis by the American Institutes for Research (AIR).” Furthermore, AIR’s findings show that approximately 137,000 3 year olds are not enrolled. The report also includes a snapshot at the county and zip code level from 2014 showing where the unmet need for preschool is most acute.
“California is home to more young children than any other state in the nation, and we are missing an opportunity to reduce achievement gaps when they are best addressed–before children start kindergarten,” said Early Edge California President Deborah Kong. “The high number of unserved children shows state policies and investments must catch up to their unmet needs. Policymakers should consider the children and families behind the statistics in this report, and increase investments in quality early education.”
Early Edge California works to ensure all children have the early experiences necessary to be successful learners by the end of 3rd grade, setting them on a path to college and career readiness. For more information, visit www.earlyedgecalifornia.org.
“California has made progress in recent years to expand opportunities for children to attend preschool, but there are still too many left without the benefit of an early education,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson. “A high-quality early childhood education is one of the first steps toward success in school. Expanding early education opportunities will help our students and strengthen our schools.”
In nearly every county throughout the state, there are regions of significant unmet need for preschool, according to data from 2014. Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, and San Diego counties have the highest number of unserved children, while Sierra, Mariposa, San Benito, Placer, and Lassen counties have the highest percentages of unserved children. Researchers compared the Census data estimate of the total number of income-eligible children with actual enrollments of low-income children in the State Preschool Program, other Title 5 programs, transitional kindergarten (TK), expanded transitional kindergarten (ETK), and Head Start. Early childhood programs are still recovering from the Great Recession and current expenditures are insufficient for meeting standards of quality.
“Early education remains a priority for the district because the early years provide opportunities for children to grow socially, physically, and cognitively,” said Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Michelle King. “Through the expansion of high-quality transitional kindergarten, preschool collaborative classrooms for children with special needs, and the opening of more state preschool programs, the District is working to meet the needs of families in the most underserved areas.”
“In California, 2 in 5 eligible children between the ages of 3 and 4 don’t have access to preschool because of the lack of funding and the length of wait lists,” said MomsRising.org executive director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. “Parents need safe, enriching places for their kids to be so they can work; and kids need safe, enriching places to be so they can thrive. We need to do more to ensure that all children have access to these crucial programs that support our kids, our families, and our economy.”
The policy brief follows the introduction of the Quality Early Education and Development Act of 2016–AB 2660 (McCarty), which aims to establish a concrete plan and a timeline for California to provide quality preschool opportunities to all children from low-income families. The bill requires the California Department of Education, in consultation with the State Board of Education and the State Advisory Council on Early Learning and Care (SAC), to bring the Legislature and the Department of Finance a multi-year plan to provide children with access to high-quality pre-kindergarten for at least one year before kindergarten, with a focus on enhancing the quality of programs.
