RE: School Readiness -- A Critical Foundation

I want to respond to Senator Vasconcellos' question as to whether the Master Plan for Education goes far enough.  First, I commend the Joint Committee and the Task Force convened by the California Children and Families Commission for their thoughtful work on School Readiness.  We share the view that early learning is a critical component of a child centered approach to a Master Plan for Education.  

But I do hope that the final Master Plan for Education will make a stronger statement regarding Infants and Toddlers.  While Access Recommendation 1 makes a strong case for the importance of the first three years, it speaks only of priorities during the phase- in period.  Financing Recommendation 51 again does not call for guaranteed access for infants and toddlers to child care and early learning services. We would like the Plan to make a strong commitment to ensuring that the resources are available so that all families will have access to high quality child care for children, birth through five. This could be phased in with first priority to low income families.  In fact, the lack of care for infants and toddlers is a growing crisis for working families in California and will have long-term impact of children's development.

We also hope that the section on three-and four-year-olds will include language ensuring that they have access to quality programs all-day and all-year.  

As with pre-school, services for infants and toddlers should be voluntary.  I agree with Judy Stucki's comments including the support for paid family leave. Many families with low and moderate incomes have no choice whether or not to work outside the home including those that must meet CalWORKs (welfare to work) work requirements.

We look forward to integrating the Master Plan for Education with the Master Plan for Child Care as proposed by SB 390, which Senators Escutia and Vasconcellos among others have championed.  The Master Plan for Child Care will build on the important work of this Committee and take a more detailed look at certain aspects of the child care and early learning system.