The rapid rollout of a hugely ambitious plan to reduce elementary school class sizes in California over two decades ago should serve as a cautionary tale for how quickly the state should implement universal preschool, a long-sought-after goal of children’s advocates and their allies in the Legislature. The state’s 1996 class size reduction program had a range of unintended consequences, and provides some sobering guidance as to how not to do it.
Incoming Gov. Gavin Newsom articulated during his election campaign universal preschool as part of an ambitious, multi-pronged “cradle-to-career” system of education in the state. But what Newsom left unsaid was when and how fast he would move to introduce universal preschool, which is generally understood to mean providing state subsidized preschool for all low-income 4-year-olds before they enter kindergarten.
Incoming Gov. Gavin Newsom articulated during his election campaign universal preschool as part of an ambitious, multi-pronged “cradle-to-career” system of education in the state. But what Newsom left unsaid was when and how fast he would move to introduce universal preschool, which is generally understood to mean providing state subsidized preschool for all low-income 4-year-olds before they enter kindergarten
