Newsom’s transitory kindergarten increase hurt preschools

By Bruce Fuller and Lisa Wilkin, especially for CalMatters

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Gov. Gavin Newsom once sought to reduce sky-high child care costs as a key to making families economically viable again. But as the issue of affordability dominates across the country, the governor’s momentum appears to be fading.

The Republican promise to support families rings hollow. Gas prices, health care premiums rise for stranded parents as President Donald Trump wants 42% jump in military spending. Trump told his budget director last month, “Don’t send money to day care … We’re waging wars.”

In stark contrast, Newsom emerged from the COVID pandemic with plans to expand the transitional kindergarten up to 96,000 additional children each year. Now half of all 4-year-olds are in this new school class.

It also increased the number of childcare vouchers available to help parents pay for childminders. And he raised per-pupil spending on public schools by nearly two-thirds.

But this year, Newsome had his dreams dashed.

His final state budget emphasized fiscal prudence and big gains for local schools. But surprisingly, Newsom is seeking a 2 percent cut to public child care and preschool programs after adjusting for California’s accelerating inflation.

It is safer to sit on one’s laurels and declare victory than to admit unexpected harm from one’s otherwise progressive policies.

Transitional Kindergarten has eliminated huge childcare bills for thousands of parents raising 4-year-olds. But now the options are shrinking for California’s 1.6 million children ages 0 to 3.

Newsom’s well-intentioned growth of transitional kindergartens is undermining community-rooted preschools that long served 4-year-olds — children are now migrating to transitional kindergarten programs hosted by public schools.

As Newsom’s rising support for transitional kindergarten emerged in 2021 — pushed by Democratic lawmakers — nearly 1,200 nonprofit preschools have closed in California, says a new analysis from UC Berkeley. Los Angeles County alone has lost 12,000 for-profit preschool spaces. In mid-sized counties like Santa Clara, more than 4,000 places for children are gone.

The nonprofit child care loss requires parents to pick up their children from drop-in daycare in the early afternoons, which is impossible for many full-time working moms and dads.

In contrast, public preschools have long been open from early morning to evening and throughout the summer. Fewer than a third of parents of 3-year-olds in California were able to find preschool placements at a neighborhood center, church, or YWCA.

Fortunately, Democrat MPs, MP David Alvarez of Chula Vista and state senator Sasha Rene Perez of Pasadena, have supported incentives to help nonprofits navigate to serve younger children by increasing the per-child allocation for children under 4 and expanding eligibility for public preschool for families earning up to about $120,000 a year.

Lawmakers are considering a $123 million request from Public Schools Superintendent Tony Thurman to reach more children under the age of 4 and strengthen nonprofit preschools. It’s affordable, given that the tax revenue flowing into Proposition 98 earmarked for education is soaring thanks to a stock market fueled by AI stocks. Newsom’s budget would add another $8.3 billion to support local schools.

Newsom’s waning interest in universal preschool may stem from the union’s push to provide additional child care vouchers to parents choosing home providers, many of whom are organized by the Service Employees International Union, a Newsom campaign contributor.

In the long run, nonprofits and schools can avoid competing for young children. Inventive nonprofits are already collaborating with educators to serve young children on school campuses, along with after-school programs for youth in transitional kindergarten. Lawmakers could incentivize districts to turn exempt campuses into early childhood centers because pursued by Vallejo and Los Angeles School Boards.

The governor and lawmakers can regain momentum this budget season by increasing investments in children. Economically stretched families cannot live on promises alone.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.