Kids Ready to
Succeed, California
Ready to Lead:
2014 Early
Learning Proposals
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2014: A Big Year for Early Learning
New York Times: “All of a
sudden, early childhood
education is really, really
popular. Everybody’s favorite. If
early childhood education were
an actor, it would be Tom Hanks
or Meryl Streep. If it were a
video game, it would be Candy
Crush or Angry Birds…”
Birth Through 5 Policy Proposals in 2014
Building upon and improving California's early learning
system so it serves more children in high-quality programs,
and all children are ready for success in school
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California’s Early Childhood Education System
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SB 837: Expanding and Improving
Transitional Kindergarten
Transitional kindergarten is hereby established to:
• Be age and developmentally appropriate.
• Build on high-quality early learning and child care programs, including
federal Head Start programs, to sustain the gains that children achieve
attending those programs.
• Support all children in developing the skills necessary for success in school
and life. These skills shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
o Cognitive skills such as language, early literacy and numeracy
o Social-emotional skills such as perseverance, self-control, self-esteem,
motivation and conscientiousness
o Physical skills such as gross and fine motor development, and healthy
eating habits
TK for All: Five Year Phase-in
Allows:
1) districts, providers to expand access slowly
2) teachers, associate teachers time to obtain education, training
3) gradual implementation in line with improving state budget projections
New TK
Estimated
Additional 4
Year Olds
Served
Estimated
Additional TK
Funding
1.
2015-16
46,000
2016-17
46,000
2017-18
46,000
2018-19
46,000
2019-20
46,000
Total
350,0001.
$280
million
$280
million
$280
million
$280
million
$280
million
$1.4 billion
350,000 is based on a estimated 70% enrollment rate, which is similar to the experience of other states with preschool for all such as Oklahoma, Georgia, and Florida
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TK for All: Higher Quality Programs
Standards would be based on Preschool Learning Foundations and
aligned with Kindergarten Common Core Standards
New TK
Model
Head Teacher Assoc.
Teacher
Class
Size
Teacher/Child Ratio Length of Day
Quality
Standards
Credentialed
20
1:10
AA Degree
3 to 6 hours
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TK for All: New Opportunities for Teachers
•
Compensation on par with K-12 colleagues
•
At end of the five year phase-in:
o Head teachers required to hold
credential, 24 units in early childhood
education
o Associate teachers required to
hold Associate’s degree, 24 units
in early childhood education
•
Estimated 8,000 new teaching positions, 12,000 associate teaching positions
created
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TK for All: Vision and Goals
Goal: Maintain and utilize mixed delivery system
Goal: Encourage and incentivize full-day, full-year
programs for low-income 4 year olds
Goal: Raise reimbursement rates across the board
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Growing Support for SB 837
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Editorial: Pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-olds
makes sense
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Transitional kindergarten for all would
lessen inequality
Friday, January 31, 2014
By Paul Miller
Our economic future depends on early investments
in kids
By Ann O’Leary
Friday, January 27, 2014
Op-ed: California should give all kids the
pre-K advantage
Friday, December 20, 2013
By David L. Kirp
Editorial: Universal preschool would be a boon to
California families, taxpayers
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Birth through Age 3: Making the Case
• The first three years of life are a period of dynamic and unparalleled
brain development in which children acquire the ability to think,
speak, learn and reason.
• During these first 36 months, children need good health, strong
families and positive early learning experiences to lay the foundation
for later school success.
• Low-income infants and toddlers are at a greater risk for a variety of
poorer outcomes and vulnerabilities, such as later school failure,
learning disabilities, behavior problems, developmental delay, and
health impairments.
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Introducing SB 1123: California Strong
Start Program
Introduced by author Senator Carol Liu, SB
1123 would state that it is the Legislature’s
intent to enact legislation that would establish
the California Strong Start program by
redesigning the General Child Care Program
for infants and toddlers into a
comprehensive, evidence-based, locally
controlled program, in order to improve the
healthy development and school readiness of
California’s most vulnerable children.
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SB 1123: California Strong Start Program
• Serve and nurture more of the most
vulnerable children B-3 receiving
high-quality, comprehensive services to
meet needs for early learning, health,
family support
• Build on existing Title 5 General Child
Care
• Provide adequate funding not only to
restore and expand services but
transform system to support
comprehensive services modeled after
Early Head Start, other quality programs
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SB 1123: The Impact
• California could more than double
number of 3 year olds and infants and
toddlers served
• Combines part-day and full-day State
Preschool for 3 year olds with General
Child Care for infants and toddlers
program
• $175 million of $350 million previously
spent on part-day State Preschool will
help fund B-3 program
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SB 1123: Comprehensive, High-Quality
Services
Services could include:
• Full- and part-day State Preschool for 3
year olds
• Full- and part-day infant and toddler care
• Family engagement and support
• Voluntary home visitation
• Nutrition and other health services
• Early intervention
• Early childhood mental health
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Federal Momentum: State of the Union
“Research shows that
one of the best
investments we can
make in a child’s life is
high-quality early
education.”
President Obama, 2014
State of the Union
Federal Momentum: Bipartisan Omnibus
Spending Bill
2014 federal budget:
• $1.025 billion increase for Head Start
• $154 million increase for Child Care and Development
Block Grant (CCDBG)
• $250 million for new round of Race to the Top-Early
Learning Challenge
Federal Momentum: Strong Start for
America’s Children Act
• Expands access and quality to voluntary preschool for 4 year
olds from families below 200% of the federal poverty line
• Gives Early Head Start programs the ability to reach more
eligible children through partnerships with child care programs
to improve quality
• Endorses the expansion of evidence-based home visiting
programs that have been shown to have a range of positive
impacts on parenting
• Urges Congress to fund evidence-based, voluntary home
visitation programs under Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood
Home Visiting (MIECHV)
Questions?
Email your questions about SB 837
to SB837questions@cde.ca.gov
Or visit our SB 837 FAQ page:
www.earlyedgecalifornia.org/
SB837FAQ
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THANK YOU!
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www.earlyedgecalifornia.org
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