EDUCATION: Bill aims to bolster preschool

BY STEPHEN WALL / STAFF WRITER 

Inland officials like the idea, but worry about expanding services without the cash to pay for them.

Inland educators are sounding an alarm over a bill that aims to expand the state preschool program to all eligible low-income children.

While lauding the goal, local officials worry about having to open slots for more kids without additional dollars to educate them.

Assembly Bill 47, the Preschool for All Act, passed the legislature and sits on the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown, who has until Sunday, Oct. 11 to sign or veto it. The bill would set a framework to ensure every 4 year old in California can attend preschool, but it has no funding attached.

“It’s a great idea,” said Diana Alexander, San Bernardino County’s preschool services director. “But we have to have money or we can’t do it. We will be in a situation like we’re in now where we have a waiting list and we don’t have enough money to provide a seat for them.”

Statewide, 32,000 low-income children aren’t enrolled in preschool because their parents can’t afford it, according to state education officials. It’s estimated to cost $300 million to serve them all.

The measure by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, guarantees eligible 4 year olds access to state preschool by June 2018 – but only if lawmakers carve out money in the annual budget.

Lawmakers included more than $300 million in this year’s budget for early childhood learning, giving 9,500 more low-income kids access to preschool.

McCarty cites research showing that quality early education leads to academic success, boosting high school graduation rates and college attendance while lowering crime.

McCarty said he understands the concerns and plans to push for more money for the program in next year's budget. Last year, he said he tried to boost the reimbursement rate paid to preschool providers by 10 percent but could only get a 5 percent hike during budget talks with Brown.

"It's a big issue. It boils down to slots and rates. We need to increase the number of slots available for families to participate and we need to look at the rate structure as well."

"It all comes down to priorities. It ought to be funded every year in the budget."

As to those upset about expanding the program while existing services aren't adequately funded, he said, "This is not mandatory. They don't have to do it. There's other people who will do it."

A spokesman for Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, who voted for the bill, said it would prepare students to be competitive in today’s global economy.

“Because the bill requires the Legislature to sufficiently fund the expansion, it opens up the opportunity to secure preschool funding through the budget process,” Shrujal Joseph wrote in a statement.

RISING COSTS

Uncertainty over finances concerns Sharon Baskett, executive director of the children and family services division for the Riverside County Office of Education.

“Programs are struggling to provide comprehensive high-quality education for 3 and 4 year olds because the funding is inadequate,” Baskett said.

The state reimburses half-day preschool at $3,714 per child per year, less than half the $8,627 rate for federal Head Start programs.

“Agencies aren’t being able to serve all the children because the program isn’t paying for itself – teacher salaries, the cost of food, rent and utilities are all going up,” she said. “They can’t make ends meet.”

Nearly 7,000 kids are enrolled in state preschool programs in Riverside County, while subsidized preschools in San Bernardino County serve about 10,000 children.

While backing the bill’s concept, she said it doesn’t make sense to open spots for more kids without plugging the funding shortfall.

Pam Robinson, who runs a nonprofit preschool in Riverside, supports the measure and appreciates that her program has received small funding increases the past two years.

More money is needed to strengthen existing services, she said.

“Although it may imply it’s going to give us more spaces to serve children, my concern is about quality,” said Robinson, executive director of Centro de Ninos child development center. “I think it’s more important to improve the system we have than to stretch it out thin.”

CLASSROOM FUN

While they’re too young to understand politics, kids at the Olivewood Child Development Center in Moreno Valley had fun learning about the life cycle of a pumpkin Thursday, Oct. 8.

A group sat on a rug and passed around a small pumpkin. Associate teacher Marycruz Aguayo asked them to describe its appearance.

“It looks like one of the crayons,” said Emery Ponce, 4.

Aguayo asked what it sounds like when shaken.

“A baby is in there,” responded Yara Rahman, 4.

In another room, kids played with blocks, built puzzles, painted on easels and listened to stories on headphones.

“Let’s listen to the dinosaur book,” teacher Flor Martinez told a smiling Max Fernandez, 3.

Program operators worry about having to turn away kids whose families will no longer be income eligible when the state minimum wage rises from $9 to $10 an hour Jan. 1.

A family of three must earn less than $1,800 a month to qualify for services, said Judith Wood, chief operating officer for child development services at the Family Service Association, a nonprofit agency that operates Olivewood and 11 other child development programs in Riverside County.

“It looks like they have a good intentions and they care and they understand there’s a need, but that’s as far as they can go,” Wood said. “When it comes to putting money behind it, that’s a different story.”