Gov. Gavin Newsom once aspired to ease the sky-high cost of childcare as a key to making families economically feasible again. But as the affordability issue dominates nationwide, the governor\u2019s momentum seems to be fading.<\/p>\n
The Republican promise to buoy families rings hollow. Gas prices and healthcare premiums are climbing for cash-stretched parents, as President Donald Trump seeks a 42% jump<\/a> in military spending. Trump told his budget director<\/a> last month, \u201cDon\u2019t send any money for daycare. \u2026 We are fighting wars.\u201d<\/p>\n In bright contrast, Newsom emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic with plans to extend transitional kindergarten<\/a> to 96,000 additional children each year. Now half of all 4-year-olds<\/a> are in this new school grade.<\/p>\n He also boosted the count of childcare vouchers available to help parents pay for child minders. And he raised per-pupil spending for public schools by nearly two-thirds.<\/p>\n But this year, Newsom has dampened his dreams.<\/p>\n His final state budget emphasizes fiscal caution and big gains for local schools. But surprisingly, Newsom seeks a 2% cut in public childcare and preschool programs after adjusting for California\u2019s accelerating inflation.<\/p>\n It\u2019s safer to sit on one\u2019s laurels and declare victory than to acknowledge an unanticipated harm of one\u2019s otherwise progressive policies.<\/p>\n TK eliminated massive childcare bills for thousands of parents raising 4-year-olds. But now options are shrinking for California\u2019s 1.6 million children, ages zero to 3.<\/p>\n Newsom\u2019s well-intentioned growth of transitional kindergarten is eroding community-rooted preschools that long served 4-year-olds \u2014 the kids now migrating to transitional kindergarten programs, which are hosted by public schools.<\/p>\n Since Newsom\u2019s bullish support for transitional kindergarten arose in 2021 \u2014 urged on by Democratic lawmakers \u2014 nearly 1,200 nonprofit preschools have closed<\/a> across the state, says a new analysis from the University of California at Berkeley. Los Angeles County alone has lost 12,000 slots in nonprofit preschools. In mid-size counties like Santa Clara, more than 4,000 child places have disappeared.<\/p>\n The loss of nonprofit childcare<\/a> requires parents to fetch their kids from TK in the early afternoons, which is impossible for many moms and dads laboring full time.<\/p>\n In contrast, community preschools have long\u00a0run from early morning to evening and throughout the summer. Less than a third of California parents of\u00a03-year-olds have been able to find preschool slots in a neighborhood hub, church or YWCA.<\/p>\n Thankfully Democratic lawmakers, Assemblymember David Alvarez<\/a> from Chula Vista and state Sen. Sasha Ren\u00e9\u00a0P\u00e9rez<\/a> from Pasadena, have supported incentives to help nonprofits pivot<\/a> to serve younger children, by raising per-child allocations for children under 4 and extending eligibility for public preschool to families earning up to about $120,000 yearly.<\/p>\n Lawmakers are weighing a $123 million request from state schools chief Tony Thurman to reach more children under age 4 and bolster nonprofit preschools. It\u2019s affordable, given that tax revenue flowing into the Proposition 98 education set-aside grows, thanks to a stock market stoked by artificial intelligence stocks. Newsom\u2019s budget would add another $8.3 billion to support local schools.<\/p>\n Newsom\u2019s waning interest in universal preschool may stem from a union\u2019s push for additional childcare vouchers to be awarded to parents opting for home-based providers, many of whom are organized by the Service Employees International Union, a contributor to Newsom\u2019s campaigns.<\/p>\n It would help if nonprofits and schools can avoid competing for young children. Inventive nonprofits already collaborate<\/a> with educators to serve toddlers on school campuses, along with after-school programs for transitional kindergarten youngsters. Lawmakers could incentivize districts to convert vacated campuses into early-childhood centers, as pursued by Vallejo<\/a> and L.A. school boards<\/a>.<\/p>\n The governor and lawmakers can regain momentum this budget season by ratcheting-up investments in children. Economically stretched families can\u2019t live on promises alone.<\/p>\n Bruce Fuller is professor emeritus of education policy at UC Berkeley. Lisa Wilkin leads the Child Development Consortium of Los Angeles, a nonprofit network of preschools. Distributed by CalMatters.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. 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