Newsom proposes new pre-kindergarten programs
LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed far-reaching, multibillion-dollar education initiatives — including a full year of schooling for all 4-year-olds and enrichment programs and tutoring for students in low-income communities — aimed at those he sees as most in need in the wake of the pandemic.
If approved by the Legislature, the governor’s plans, which he pencils out at $20 billion over several years, would represent an ambitious expansion of the mission for California’s education system.
Funded by a massive influx of state income tax revenue, Newsom’s proposal first and foremost targets universal transitional kindergarten, promising an additional year on the front end of the kindergarten-through-12th -grade public school experience.
But it also includes $1 billion annually for additional after-school and summer programs in low-income communities — building up to $5 billion. The governor will formally reveal his full budget proposal on Friday.
The spending agenda expands the reach of the state’s education system by the billions:
• $4 billion for youth mental health support that educators say is sorely needed for students after a year of isolation in distance learning
• More than $3.3 billion for teacher and school employee training
• $3 billion for “community schools,” where education is integrated with healthcare and mental health services.
The state would also establish a $500 college savings account for students from a low-income family with an additional $500 for foster youth and those who are homeless. The $2 billion program would be funded mostly by a portion of the state’s share of money from the American Rescue Plan, signed into law by President Biden in March. It could provide a savings account for as many as 3.8 million schoolchildren.
The emphasis on early education, Newsom said, is appropriate given the experience of the state’s youngest learners.
“It’s a readiness gap as much — more — than it is an achievement gap,” Newsom said. “People are not left behind as often as they … start behind.”
The expanded transitional kindergarten program would begin to roll out in the 2022-23 school year, phasing in over three years.
The plan was greeted enthusiastically by Linda Darling-Hammond, president of the state Board of Education and a Newsom ally.
“This set of investments and reforms will catapult California forward and really allow us to reinvent the public school system in this state,” said Darling-Hammond, who appeared with Newsom at Elkhorn Elementary School in the North Monterey County Unified School District.
That school was chosen because it provides services for students and families from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. — a model, officials said, for what the governor’s proposal anticipates.
The funding proposal would add to an unaccustomed flood of state and federal resources as educators plot a recovery from yearlong pandemic-forced campus closures.
Even without this proposed infusion, Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest school system, was looking at one-time aid well in excess of $5 billion since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Enormous amounts already have been spent on safety measures, technology, and student and staff support; enormous amounts remain to be spent.
The state plan would accelerate what L.A. Unified already is trying to do, said school board member Nick Melvoin.
“LAUSD already provides more early education opportunities than we receive funding for,” Melvoin said. “The additional state funding for 4-year-olds would free up nearly $40 million of the district’s budget that we could use to meet our own goal of universal preschool even sooner than 2024.”
Over the past year, the tremendous influx of state and federal funding for schools was one-time money provided in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, Newsom’s proposal embodies a permanent expansion of the state’s education offerings and strategy.