California Pre School for All Legislative Package

LOCAL // POLITICS Free preschool gains momentum with California lawmakers Photo of Melody Gutierrez Melody Gutierrez Dec. 3, 2018 Updated: Dec. 3, 2018 7:29 p.m. More Comments Print 3 1 of 3Students play during a Kidango preschool session at Corvallis Elementary School in San Lorenzo in June 2015. California lawmakers will consider expanding state-subsidized preschool in 2019.Photo: Loren Elliott / The Chronicle 2 of 3Tim Li plays during a Kidango preschool session at Corvallis Elementary School in San Lorenzo in June 2015. California lawmakers will consider expanding state-subsidized preschool in 2019.Photo: Loren Elliott / The Chronicle 3 of 3Dewayne Page Little Jr. watches a classmate play with a toy during a Kidango preschool session at Corvallis Elementary School in San Lorenzo in 2015. California lawmakers will consider expanding state-subsidized preschool in 2019.Photo: Loren Elliott / The Chronicle SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers who have long promised to expand free preschool for children from poor and middle-class families were sworn into office Monday, with a new plan and a new ally. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, who campaigned on expanding early education, said Monday that he wants the state to take steps toward free preschool for all children whose families don’t make enough to afford private alternatives. A lawmaker promptly submitted a proposal to do just that. Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, introduced a bill to make an additional 100,000 children ages 3 and 4 eligible for free preschool. Expanding the program that now pays for preschool for 175,000 children would cost the state about $1.3 billion over three years, McCarty said. Unlimited Digital Access for 99¢ Read more articles like this by subscribing to the San Francisco Chronicle SUBSCRIBE Despite the price tag, his legislation is likely to fall on receptive ears after voters elected a record number of Democrats to the state Assembly — 60 lawmakers in the 80-member house — along with 29 Democrats in the 40-seat Senate. Democrats have long advocated that the state provide subsidized preschool for all 4-year-olds from low-income families in hopes of breaking cycles of poverty and incarceration. Related Stories EducationPreschool for All gives youths edge in kindergarten Biz & TechWant to start a preschool at home? Wonderschool can help Gov. Jerry Brown has resisted their pressure to expand state-funded preschool, saying that although the cause was worthy and the state has the money, it was more prudent to fund budget reserves to see California through inevitable economic downturns. McCarty said that with the state now consistently running budget surpluses and with a strongly Democratic Legislature, he’s optimistic his bill will pass. “Early education is a proven difference maker,” McCarty said. “And we have a little bit of money in the budget.” Newsom said he wouldn’t comment on specific bills, but that he generally approved of expanding poor children’s access to preschool. “The only real argument is, how much can we do?” Newsom said. “You can’t get it to universal even if you wanted to because you would be shortchanging quality. We don’t have the facilities and we don’t have the workforce. ... It all can’t happen overnight.” Under McCarty’s proposal, AB123, state would also allow for middle-class families who live in high-poverty areas to qualify for free preschool. California now spends $1 billion a year to provide free preschool for 175,000 students from low- and middle-income families. Some states, including Oklahoma and Florida, already offer universal preschool, and McCarty said California should follow their lead. Under current rules, a California family of four must make less than $47,000 a year to qualify for free preschool. McCarty’s bill would expand the number of spots available to those families. In addition, it would erase income caps for families that live in the attendance area of a school where 70 percent of enrolled children qualify for free and reduced-cost lunches. The state signaled its intent to provide preschool and other full-day care to low-income children by including it in a 2014 budget bill. However, in 2015, Brown vetoed a bill by McCarty that would have set a timetable of June 2018 for the state to provide that subsidized schooling for all 4-year-olds from low-income families. The governor called the deadline “arbitrary.” McCarty said Monday, “You could be a family right here in Sacramento making like $75,000, and you are too rich to get the free preschool but you are way too poor to pay for it on your own, when you include housing costs and everything else.” McCarty introduced a second bill, AB124, which would place a $500 million bond on the 2020 ballot to pay for new preschool classrooms. He also introduced AB125, which would raise salaries for teachers at state-subsidized preschools. “This is a big price tag, but this will make a difference for kids and for student achievement,” McCarty said. Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez