L.A. Unified to Provide Space for Preschool Classes

Los Angeles school officials Wednesday announced a partnership with early childhood educators to provide classrooms for thousands of preschoolers in underserved communities.

The Los Angeles Unified School District will work with Los Angeles Universal Preschool, an independent corporation created in 2004 and funded with tobacco tax money, to develop preschools in new and existing district facilities.

The school district is building 150 new schools and modernizing many others. It has set aside more than $160 million in bond money to add space for early education activities.

Universal Preschool officials had earlier announced plans to spend $42 million to increase capacity in 34 ZIP Codes where there is demand. Sixteen of the ZIP Codes, including Huntington Park, South Gate and Watts, lie within the school district. In those areas, more than 6,700 children are on waiting lists for L.A. Unified preschool programs.

“This agreement gives us the final piece in a very large puzzle,” schools Supt. Roy Romer said during a news conference Wednesday at Hooper Avenue Primary Center. “We’re trying to do a total redesign of the LAUSD system, and preschool is a critical part of that.”

Graciela Italiano-Thomas, executive director of the Universal Preschool program, said studies have found that children who attend high-quality preschools show more cognitive and emotional skills and are more equipped to cope with the rigors of grade school and beyond.

The program is funded with more than $600 million in Proposition 10 tobacco tax money for early childhood education and overseen by the First 5 L.A. Commission.

The program’s goal is to make high-quality, voluntary preschool available to at least 70% of Los Angeles County’s 4-year-olds -- about 100,000 children -- over the next decade. So far, it has enrolled more than 4,200 children in preschool classes.