This week, some important policymakers went back to preschool as they joined kids for circle time in a Sacramento classroom. Before practicing their ABCs with the children, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, Senator Darrell Steinberg and Assemblymember Dave Jones highlighted a preschool reform package that included some of their favorite letters and numbers: SB 1629 and AB 2759.

Senator Steinberg is the author of SB 1629, the Early Learning Quality Improvement Act, which would establish a Commission to create a state Early Learning Quality Improvement System. This includes a quality rating scale to help parents make informed decisions about programs for their children, and a graduated funding model to help existing and future preschool programs reach and maintain higher levels of quality.

"If we want all California children to have a chance to succeed in school, we need to make sure that the neediest children get high-quality preschool," Senator Steinberg said. "SB 1629 will create the roadmap for transforming our preschool programs into the high- quality experience our children deserve."

Assemblymember Jones is the author of AB 2759, the California State Preschool Program Act, which would consolidate and streamline the state’s existing Title 5 child development programs for preschool-aged children – State Preschool, Full-Day State Preschool, Prekindergarten and Family Literacy, Prekindergarten and Family Literacy Full-Day and General Child Care and Development Programs – to create the California State Preschool Program.

“These two bills will help increase the availability of preschool programs and reduce administrative costs and burdens so that funding gets to where it's most needed — to provide more quality preschool for our kids,” Assemblymember Jones said.

The two preschool reform bills, which are co-sponsored by Superintendent O’Connell, Children Now, the California Child Development Administrators Association and Preschool California, are the beginning of a transformation for preschool and early education in California.

The fact that the legislation requires no general fund expenditures gives us something we can do even during these challenging budget times to lay the foundation for future investments in high-quality preschool once new funds become available. Both bills have moved out of the education committees and will be acted upon by the appropriations committees in the coming days.

The preschool reform plan builds off of recent recommendations from both the Governor’s Committee on Education Excellence and Superintendent O’Connell’s P-16 Council. Noting the significant benefits of high-quality preschool, both reports call on California to make a significant investment in expanding access to high-quality preschool programs so our neediest children can attend.

“Improving access to quality preschool is a major step we must take to close the achievement gap in California schools,” Superintendent O’Connell said. “Preschool can make a huge difference in students' academic success and benefit students well beyond their school career. I am honored to work with Senator Steinberg and Assemblymember Jones — two champions for children — to improve quality preschool options in our state.”

We know that research shows all children, especially low-income children and English language learners, benefit greatly from high-quality preschool. Unfortunately, California’s state-funded preschool programs meet only 4 out of 10 nationally recognized benchmarks for quality.

Superintendent O’Connell, Senator Steinberg and Assemblymember Jones know we can do better for our young children and that’s why they’ve come together to advance this important legislation. It lays the groundwork for a future when all of California’s children, especially those who need it most, have access to high-quality preschool.

Catherine Atkin is president of Preschool California, a broad-based advocacy campaign to make effective pre-kindergarten programs to all children, starting with those who need it most. She is an attorney with legal and policy expertise in the area of early care and education.