Media Coverage
Teacher appreciation: Mari Sanchez, grooming students from age four in transitional kindergarten | 10.20.2016
Daily Democrat
The most important role, according to Sanchez, is being the transitional kindergarten leader. more
Research On Tulsa's Head Start Program Finds Lasting Gains | 08.22.2016
NPR
Two new studies examining the long-term impact of the $8.6 billion federal preschool program offer support to those who say the answer is yes. more
Affordable Child Care: The Secret to a Better Economy | 08.19.2016
The New York Times
Of the 24 million children under 6 in the United States today, some 12 million need day care, because both parents work or a single parent is the breadwinner. Yet most working families can’t afford good care — if they can even find it in the first place. more
Overall enrollment is down, but LA Unified has the same number of kindergarteners as 9 years ago, data show | 07.27.2016
LA School Report
Carola Matera, an assistant professor at Cal State Channel Islands’ School of Education who specializes in early childhood education, said she believes transitional kindergarten has a big impact on enrollment numbers. more
What Does “Transforming the Workforce” Say About Developing Young Children’s Language and Literacy Skills? | 06.22.2016
Ed Central
Chapter Four of the report covers how children’s language and literacy skills develop from birth through the early grades of elementary school, and Chapter Six explains what role teachers can and should play in fostering those skills. The key takeaway? It’s all about exposing children to high-quality language interactions. more
State budget heads to Gov. Brown: How education fared | 06.15.2016
EdSource
Facing a midnight deadline, the Legislature Wednesday passed a $171 billion state budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 that steers an extra $2 billion that Gov. Jerry Brown demanded into a rainy day reserve and commits an additional half-billion dollars for early childhood education over the next four years. more
CA budget plan preserves transitional kindergarten, adds preschool spots | 06.10.2016
KPCC
The budget deal reached by California legislative leaders and Governor Jerry Brown would add preschool slots, allow local preschools to raise wages for their workers, and preserve the transitional kindergarten program for 4-year-olds that was at risk of being cut entirely. more
Gov. Brown agrees to add money for child care, preschool in budget | 06.10.2016
EdSource
Advocates for expanding early childhood education and for better preparing low-income high school students for state universities wrested substantial money in the compromise state budget, announced Thursday, that legislative leaders and Gov. Jerry Brown have negotiated. The Legislature will vote next week on the $122 billion plan for the fiscal year starting July 1. more
Wood: Brown's budget slams early childhood education | 05.31.2016
The Mercury News
The governor says he is serious about alleviating poverty. Access to high-quality early childhood education programs are proven to break the cycle of poverty. So why would he propose to reduce funding for these programs and reducing the amount the state reimburses nonprofits that serve the lowest-income children in our communities? Why would he eliminate Transitional Kindergarten after working for years to fully implement the program — one that recent research has shown to be effective in preparing students for academic success? more
Protect transitional kindergarten for students and schools | 05.26.2016
Sacramento Bee
In spite of significant student benefits and transitional kindergarten’s continued progress statewide, Gov. Jerry Brown’s May revision budget proposes to eliminate transitional kindergarten for up to 125,000 young children like Mariana. more
Assembly Democrats Push For Increased Funding For Child Care, Welfare | 05.25.2016
Capitol Public Radio
Democrats in the California State Assembly will push to add funding for early childhood care programs in next year’s budget, and pay for it by delaying spending proposed by Governor Jerry Brown. more
California is way behind on child care and it's time to ante up | 05.23.2016
Sacramento Bee
Brown has a point about the complexity and expense of the existing system. And he is right to want to keep spending from running amok.
But as Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon has pointed out, children aren’t just any line item. They’re the single most important priority for millions of households. more
Governor's Budget May Cut Transitional Kindergarten | 05.19.2016
Topanga Messenger
Governor Brown’s most recently submitted revised budget would eliminate Transitional Kindergarten (TK) in the state of California in the 2017 school year. Children with birth dates after September 1 (currently September 1-December 1) would not be permitted into Kindergarten in 2017, leaving thousands of children out of TK and left out of the system for a full school year. If your child has benefitted from TK, you know how vital this program is for Kindergarten and later school success. more
Marin educators defend transitional education programs | 05.19.2016
Marin Independent Journal
A leading Marin educator blasted a move by Gov. Jerry Brown to eliminate transitional kindergarten and substitute block grants for early education as “another unfulfilled promise setting expectations but not paying for them.” more
Governor's latest early education budget proposal disappoints advocates, providers | 05.13.2016
EdSource
“The governor is proposing a substantial policy change to the early childhood system without any new funding for children,” said Debra Kong, president of the advocacy organization Early Edge. “And the few weeks left in the budget process is not enough time for the field, families, and policymakers to consider the ramifications.” more