Preschool Legislation

Updates and background information on preschool-related bills in California.

• SB 1629 (Steinberg) – Early Learning Quality Improvement Act – was voted out of the education committee and is scheduled to be heard in the appropriations committee on May 12. Fact Sheet. Full Text. Status.
• AB 2759 (Jones) – California State Preschool Program Act – was voted out of the education committee and was heard in the appropriations committee on May 7. Fact Sheet. Full Text. Status.
• SB 1298 (Simitian and Steinberg) – Education Data System: Governance and Critical Linkages – was voted out of the education committee and has been placed in the appropriations suspense file to be acted upon later this month. Full Text. Status.
• AB 100 (Mullin and Nunez) – Public Education Facilities Bond Act – was voted out of appropriations earlier this year and is currently in the rules committee. A broad coalition is seeking amendments to add funds to the bond for preschool facilities. Full Text. Status.
  
  See the status of other pre-k related bills.
  

More than 300 preschool supporters visit Capitol during successful Pre-K Advocacy Day: Teachers, early care educators, parents, business and labor leaders, and others from across California met with more than 90 state legislators and staff to share their stories of how high-quality preschool gets kids ready to learn and is a critical first step in education reform. Advocates also heard from a stellar lineup of speakers, including Assemblymember Dave Jones, Senator Darrell Steinberg, California Secretary of Education Dave Long, Camille Maben from the California Department of Education and Gisselle Acevedo from Para Los Niños. See photos and download event materials.


New RAND research on preschool in California coming next month: The third in a series of preschool studies from the RAND Corporation is scheduled to be released in June. The research will feature new data from parents, teachers and providers on the quality of pre-k and child care serving California's children. More information on the third study is available here. Visit our website to see the findings of the first two RAND preschool studies.


National report reveals strong pre-k leadership from some governors: Sixteen governors and the mayor of Washington D.C. proposed a total of $261 million in increases for pre-k for FY 2009, concludes a report from Pre-K Now. Eight governors proposed flat or decreased pre-k funding, representing a $36 million cut. Both Republican and Democratic governors made proposals to increase pre-k, in spite of significant fiscal and political challenges. Four governors, including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, proposed cuts to pre-k funding. Read the report, Leadership Matters.


New fact sheets on two important preschool bills in the California state Legislature are available: See the bill fact sheets for SB 1629 - Early Learning Quality Improvement Act (Steinberg) and AB 2759 - The California State Preschool Program Act of 2008 (Jones). Learn more about 2008 pre-k legislation, including additional legislation related to preschool, child care or child development includes.


Governor's Committee on Education Excellence releases education reform recommendations:  Governor's Committee on Education Excellence's report recommends adopting a comprehensive early childhood package that includes offering pre-k to all kids, starting with those who need it most, and making strategic investments in preschool quality. The report, Students First: Renewing Hope for California's Future, is also available in Spanish. Chapter 8 of the supplementary technical report takes a look at the policy and research base for the recommendations.  


State of Preschool 2007 released: The State of Preschool 2007 report, released by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), showed that public pre-K is unavailable for most 3 and 4 year olds across the country, and California doesn't fare much better. The report said California met only 4 of 10 quality benchmarks outlined by NIEER. (With the recent development and release of the California Preschool Learning Foundations, California now meets half of NIEER's benchmarks). Read the State of Preschool 2007.


Governor proposes budget with across-the-board cuts: Gov. Schwarzenegger’s 2008-09 budget proposal calls for 10 percent across-the-board cuts, including child development programs. Please see the Child Care Law Center's response to the budget proposal and the Child Development Policy Institute's information bulletin for more specifics on the budget.

See past "what's new" items