California

It's a must have even though we don't know exactly what it is or should be.

CAMPAIGN 2006 Preschool Politics Pros and Cons of Universal Education Initiative Aired
Janine DeFao, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Amanda Riccetti supports universal preschool, but she plans to vote against Proposition 82.
Director of Big City Montessori School in San Francisco's Bayview district, Riccetti fears the June ballot initiative to provide free preschool to all California 4-year-olds is so restrictive that schools like hers will be shut out.

"The initiative puts in very precise directions, making it more difficult for programs to be individualized and for parent choice," said Riccetti, who runs a school for 100 children founded by her mother in 1972. It has been turned down as a site for San Francisco's fledgling universal preschool program, though Riccetti is working to qualify it.

The ballot measure -- with prominent Democrats, Republicans and chambers of commerce lined up on either side -- also is dividing preschool providers.

Initiative backers say Prop. 82 would create a system in which all existing preschools could apply for state funding to offer the program, including public, private and faith-based centers and even family day care providers. But current preschool leaders worry about a range of issues, from requirements that teachers earn bachelor's degrees to the creation of standards for what preschoolers should learn.

With a tax hike on California's highest earners of 1.7 percent, Prop. 82 would generate an estimated $2.4 billion to fund half-day preschool programs by 2010 for California's half-million 4-year-olds. Between 62 and 65 percent of 4-year-olds attend some form of preschool now, but backers of the measure say many schools are low quality; as few as 20 percent may attend quality programs. And many communities, particularly in poor areas, don't have enough preschool spots. Private preschool typically costs more than $4,000 a year.

Prop. 82 would more than double public subsidies for preschool in California. But waiting lists for subsidized care are long, and many poor families earn too much to qualify for programs such as Head Start.

The measure aims to resolve the quality issue by increasing teacher qualifications and setting standards for preschool that would be aligned with the state's standards for kindergartens through third grades. Some educators worry that curricula will be pushed down to younger ages, as has happened in the K-12 system.

"The premise is great, but it's not all quite adding up," said Karen Zimmerman, director of ABC Preschool in Alameda, who plans to vote against the measure. "If you're pushing academics at four and leaving behind the social and emotional issues they need to have under their belts to get along in the world, you're leaving a big part behind."

Scott Moore, director of a group known as ECE4PFA, which represents 45,000 early child educators who support Prop. 82, said educators have little cause to worry because the standards would be developmentally appropriate and allow a variety of curricula.

"All preschool philosophies should meet those developmental standards," said Moore, co-owner of Little Elephant Montessori School in Oakland.

But some other Montessori schools have organized against the measure, claiming it could drive them out of business unless they drastically alter their teaching methods.

"Why would I want to turn over a vibrant, healthy model to a highly challenged bureaucracy that needs to address its own issues?" said Pamela Rigg, president of the California Montessori Council, which includes about 80 of the state's more than 500 Montessori schools.

The new state preschool system would be led by the state superintendent for public instruction, and funding would be dispersed by county offices of education, except in San Francisco and Los Angeles, which have already developed their own systems.

A survey of more than 400 preschool directors by UC Berkeley education Professor Bruce Fuller, who has raised numerous questions about Prop. 82, found that 53 percent opposed state preschool standards and 56 percent did not believe preschool activities should aim to raise elementary school test scores.

"There's a deep worry in the nonprofit sector over the possibility that Sacramento might exert more control," Fuller said of his preliminary results.

But initiative backers say the new system would be designed to maintain the diversity of approaches in use by relying on existing providers to participate, as pioneers such as the state of Georgia have done.

"This is one of the first systems in the nation where private providers are part of it, where parents have choice," Moore said. "This is drastically different than the K-12 system."
Educators such as Peter Glassman of the Early Learning Institute worry that state control will lead to unhealthy standardization.

"I'm afraid that an extraordinary amount of goodwill and sincerity will result in a system that will not succeed in its objectives and will inevitably force providers into a model that will not succeed for young learners," said Glassman, vice president for curriculum and instruction for the institute, which operates Montessori preschools and K-8 schools in Palo Alto, Pleasanton and San Jose. Glassman's schools are not affiliated with Rigg's group.

Under the initiative, faith-based providers could participate in universal preschool, but only if they did not teach religion during the state-funded school day. At Temple Sinai Preschool in Oakland, director Melanie Sandberg said religion is such a key part of instruction that she would opt out of the state program. But Sandberg supports the initiative and said she isn't worried about competition from free preschool because parents would continue to pay for religious education.

California Church Impact, the sister organization of the California Council of Churches, which represents 1.5 million Christians, opposes the measure because of concerns about standardizing preschool education, Impact public policy director Elizabeth Sholes said.

Another controversial issue among preschool providers is the proposition's requirement that teachers earn bachelor's degrees and a yet-to-be-created early childhood credential.

Supporters say such a degree is necessary to raise quality. Salaries would be expected to double, placing them on par with K-12 teachers', and the high turnover rate would drop.

But others worry that the requirement would disproportionately hurt the high number of minority and immigrant preschool teachers and worry that the current educational system is not up to the task.

Fuller's survey found 37 percent of providers supported requiting a bachelor of arts degree, while 43 percent preferred a two-year degree.

Only a third of teachers in state-funded preschools now have B.A.s. The initiative contains $500 million for higher education institutions to expand training and $200 million for financial aid, and the degree would not be required until 2014.

"There's no question it's a herculean task," Moore said. "But the fact is you've got eight years to do it and a lot of resources to make it accessible and affordable."

Schools also would have to decide whether to require bachelor's degrees for those who teach children younger than 4 and then figure out how to pay higher salaries without the state funding. That could increase fees.

Paul Miller, executive director of Kidango -- a nonprofit that runs 40 centers in the East Bay, San Francisco and San Jose -- said he would raise salaries across the board. He hopes the state would raise its subsidies for children younger than 4 as well.

"A lot of programs are fearful of the unknown," Miller said. But "the question for me really isn't, 'Is this better for Kidango?' The decision I made is, 'Is this better for children?' It is."