Prop. 10 Commissions’ Role in State Child Care

We agree with your criticism of the governor’s proposal to slash spending for child care and early education programs and to shift responsibility for these core programs to the counties, but we are alarmed at the role suggested for Proposition 10 commissions in resolving this funding crisis (editorial, April 12).

When the voters of California passed Proposition 10, requiring an additional tax on cigarettes to fund early childhood development programs, they weren’t giving the state or the counties a pass on their responsibilities to preschool children. California’s counties are facing unprecedented budget cuts of their own and are hardly prepared to take on these massive tasks.

L.A. County’s Proposition 10 Commission, now called First 5 LA, is doing a lot more than home visitation and kits for new parents. It has delivered tens of millions of dollars to children and their families through programs providing child care, school readiness, parent education, health care, nutrition, family literacy and myriad other services. In addition, First 5 LA is committing $100 million to health care for uninsured children and $100 million to provide access to quality preschool and early education.

Californians overwhelmingly support existing state and local early childhood development programs but have insisted that Proposition 10 commissions build on that foundation with new and innovative opportunities for our children. First 5 LA is meeting that mandate. Not only would the legislative analyst’s proposal defy the will of the people, but it would hurt the most vulnerable among us: children less than 5 years of age.

Evelyn V. Martinez

Executive Director

First 5 LA, Los Angeles