Bold Action for the Good of Kids

Some ideas should be put on the table no matter how far a reach they seem. State Supt. of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin has done just that with her suggestion that California should provide voluntary and universal preschool education, a very costly scheme but one whose payoffs would be worth the price--if the funds could be raised.

There’s no question about the potential benefits. High-quality preschool prepares kids to succeed in their formal education. In the best programs, 3- and 4-year-olds learn social skills, how to share and get along. They listen to stories, memorize nursery rhymes, look at picture books and gain other experiences that prepare them to read. They develop the important habit of going to school every day. All California children could benefit from these experiences.

The cost? State officials put the price at up to $3 billion to provide a half-day of instruction for 1 million children. Oh, what the legislators in Sacramento would like to do with $3 billion, and preschool is probably down on the list. But Eastin is pressing ahead, asking a 55-member task force of parents, educators, legislators and corporate leaders to come up with a proposal, perhaps a combination of federal, state, local, corporate, nonprofit and philanthropic support. Task force members can learn from states like New York, which is phasing in a universal preschool program financed with state money, and from Georgia, which uses lottery funds to finance preschool for 4-year-olds.

The federal government finances the popular Head Start program nationwide for poor 3- and 4-year-olds. Funded at $4 billion, it serves 800,000 children, about 40% of those who are eligible. The children also qualify for dental and medical care. A new Early Head Start program, designed around new research on early brain development, targets children from infancy to 3. At that critical age, children quickly develop cognitive and social skills important to their future success in school and life.

Sacramento already funds child care programs and has increased spending dramatically, from $325 million to $1.2 billion, in the last decade. Gov. Pete Wilson and the Legislature boosted support again in the last session to accommodate the children of welfare mothers who will be required to attend classes and job training under the new welfare system. But neither the state nor the federal government can serve all eligible children. And, as any working mother knows--and more than half of all mothers of children under the age of 5 work outside the home--finding affordable, good child care is difficult even when a parent can pay $500 per month. Eastin and her task force hope to shed light on the challenge by early next year.