Since Preschool California was founded in 2003, we have been working to expand access to effective pre-kindergarten programs for California 4 year olds.

Throughout, we have responded to the needs of California media as they cover preschool, an issue critical to the state’s future. Visit our Media Center to see recent coverage and resources available to print and electronic journalists covering preschool.

2008

Early learning advocates, including Preschool California, worked together on three key early learning bills passed by the California state Legislature and signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger:

• SB 1629 (Steinberg) - Early Learning Quality Improvement Act
  [fact sheet]
  SB 1629 establishs a Commission to create a state Early Learning Quality Improvement System. 
  
• AB 2759 (Jones) - California State Preschool Program Act
  [fact sheet]
  AB 2759 consolidates and streamlines existing Title 5 child development programs that serve preschool-aged children.
  
• SB 1298 (Simitian and Steinberg) - Education Data and Information Act
  [text]
  SB 1298 addresses a number of issues related to data and require the Department of Education to begin using a common identifier for records from center-based early childhood programs through higher education.

2007

Preschool California co-sponsored three important preschool bills in the state legislature:

• SB 944 (Padilla) [text] [status]: Preschool and Child Development Data Reporting
  Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to collect, aggregate, and report to the legislature data regarding state-subsidized child development programs, including state preschool.
  
• AB 1059 (DeLeon) [text] [status]: Financial Aid Opportunities for Preschool and Child Care Educators
  Expands existing professional development programs and creates new financial incentives to attract and retain educators in the early care and education field. 
  
• AB 571 (Jones) [text] [status]: Expanding Effective Preschool
  Directs the state to offer voluntary, effective preschool to all low-income 3 and 4 year olds, with a priority on 4 year olds, by 2011-12. 

2006

• In 2006, we were part of a collaboration on a public opinion poll of ethnic Californians and their attitudes toward preschool.  The New America Media Poll, “Great Expectations: Multilingual Poll of Latino, Asian and African American Parents Reveals High Educational Aspirations for Their Children and Strong Support for Early Education”, was released on August 23.  We reached out to the media to generate coverage and co-hosted a legislative briefing on the poll.
  
  
• On June 7, Governor Schwarzenegger announced his proposal to invest an additional $50 million to increase access to preschool for California kids who need it most.  We worked to pass AB 172 (pdf), legislation that would implement his proposal and ensure that an additional 12,000 4 year olds from across the state would have the opportunity to attend pre-kindergarten.  Preschool California's founder and CEO, Maryann O'Sullivan (green sweater below), stood with the governor at a Los Angeles preschool on September 7 as he signed AB 172 into law.
  
  
  
  
• In March, we garnered three awards for our online efforts -- two Pollie awards, which recognize the best in public affairs and political communication, and one Addy award from the Advertising Club of Metropolitan Washington.  Our Proposition 82 Web site won the bronze Pollie award in the "Local Organization" category.  Our December 2005 interactive holiday e-card received a silver Pollie in the “Best Use of Email/Viral Marketing” category and an Addy citation of excellence.
  
   
• In early March, we published a Non-Partisan Summary of Proposition 82, the Preschool for All Act (pdf).  The report provides a general overview of the provisions of the June 2006 ballot measure, background information on the initiative and depicts the preschool landscape in California and other states.  This non-partisan summary was created as an informational document for anyone who is interested in the Preschool for All Act and/or California's early childhood education policies.
  
  

2005

• In December, we pressed hard for statewide media coverage of groundbreaking new preschool research from the RAND Corp., and we got it. More than 30 television outlets and nearly 100 radio stations covered the report, as did newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, Fresno Bee, La Opinión, San Jose Mercury News, Orange County Register, and the San Bernardino Sun. The RAND study included compelling county-level data about expected annual reductions in high school drop-outs, special education use, and juvenile crime. Read more.
  
  
• In November, we released Praise for Preschool: California Kindergarten Teachers Say All Children Will Benefit. The report features 2005 poll results showing that more than 9 out of 10 kindergarten teachers in California say it is important for children to go to preschool before they start kindergarten. The poll, conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, found near-unanimous support for quality preschool among kindergarten teachers. Praise also features first-person stories from 12 California kindergarten teachers, and was reported on by 12 California newspapers. Read more.

2004

• In 2004 and 2005 we worked to assemble an exploratory committee of business, K-12, early childhood education and children’s advocacy leaders. We facilitated a year-long process that included consultation with hundreds of Californians and scores of California organizations and resulted in the drafting of the Preschool for All Act for the June 2006 ballot.
  
  
• On April 4, 2004, we convened a statewide lobby day in Sacramento in which 350 preschool advocates visited every legislative office in the building.  The event loudly announced the preschool movement in the state capitol. With our partner, Children Now, we did it again on August 31, 2005.
  
  
• In 2004, we published a groundbreaking report, Kids Can’t Wait to Learn, which drew statewide attention to the need for increased preschool opportunity for California 4 year olds among policymakers, civic leaders, business leaders and the media.
  
  
• In 2004, we traveled the state of California, convening six Community Leader Forums that brought together nearly 100 prominent local leaders in each community to discuss the need for quality preschool. Forums were held in Orange, Fresno, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, and Santa Clara counties. These events were coupled with media outreach to publicize low preschool enrollment rates and the need for greater preschool opportunity, both locally and statewide. 
  
  
• We lobbied for the passage of AB 712, which was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but not before six California newspapers editorialized in favor of his signature.
  
  
• Throughout the year, staff traveled around the state to give more than 50 non-partisan presentations, reaching nearly 2,000 individuals

2003

• In 2003, we brought together a broad group of early care and education experts, educators and child advocates to write a set of guiding principles to chart a course for preschool opportunity for all in California. We convened more than a dozen well-attended meetings of early care and education leaders around the state as part of developing these principles.