Preschool System's OK Likely

February 12, 2004

L.A. County will use tobacco taxes to build one of the nation's most ambitious programs

By Carla Rivera
Times Staff Writer
February 12, 2004
Los Angeles Times Calfornia Section

With more than $130 million in tobacco tax funds flowing into its coffers annually for children's health and education, the Los Angeles County First 5 Commission probably is the envy of most hard-pressed government agencies.

The commission is scheduled today to approve a plan for one of the most ambitious programs in the nation to educate the county's children before they enroll in kindergarten. But its leaders concede that their pockets are not deep enough to do everything they want.

They have spent nearly a year tackling such thorny questions as: Can both 3- and 4-year-olds be accommodated by a $100-million annual budget? Will classes be a full day or a partial day? Where will the initial preschools be located? What level of training should teachers have?

The road has been marked by disagreements, compromises, sticker shock and some deadlock. For example, a major issue — whether classes will be free or require a co-payment based on income — was left unresolved for now.

The plan calls for focusing on 4-year-olds for the time being, partly to rein in costs and partly because some parents seem less willing to enroll younger children.

Karen Hill Scott, a veteran educator who has run the planning process, brought together a 200-member advisory team of heavy hitters in business, education, philanthropy and child care, many of whom have competing agendas.

The panel was co-chaired by former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg and children's advocate Nancy Daly Riordan, wife of state Secretary of Education Richard Riordan.

"This is a great opportunity to really make a difference in the lives of children in Los Angeles," Nancy Riordan said. "Everybody had a different opinion and everybody couldn't always get their way. But people felt they were heard and were able to trust the process enough and let go of their own ideas."

So, when the first preschool teacher welcomes the first child next fall, the program is expected to begin a gradual buildup over 10 years. Plans call for an initial 4,000 to 10,000 4-year-olds in 100 classrooms, with a goal of 117,000 4-year-olds in 5,000 classrooms within a decade.

Home-based child-care providers and existing preschools such as Head Start would be used to extend classes from half-day to full day under the plan. Scores of new centers would be built.
The go-slow approach is important, Hill Scott said: "The excitement of a big-bang launch is not worth the discontent it can create out in the community." Preschool programs in other states advised Los Angeles County to "start small and get control."

The goal is a system that could become as entrenched as K-12 education and that eventually would be supported by other state and private funding. Planners said that is important because the tobacco money will diminish gradually as smoking declines.
Proposition 10, also known as the California Children and Families First Act, was championed by filmmaker Rob Reiner and approved by voters in 1998 to help children during the first five years of their lives. It levies a 50-cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes, overseen by a statewide commission and 58 county panels. Los Angeles County received about $134 million of the $562 million generated statewide last year.

Although other counties are considering their own programs, the Los Angeles preschool effort is furthest along and its planners say it will provide a national blueprint.

The costs of such a vast new system gave its planners a reality check. Hill Scott's team devised a computerized model that allowed panel members to propose their ideal scenarios and come up with price tags.

One example called for enrolling most 3- and 4-year-olds in the county within two years in free half-day classes, taught by teachers with specialized training. Such a plan was determined to have a $307-million annual cost and would put the program more than $500 million in debt within 10 years.

"We go into this with this utopian idea that we will be able to accomplish all in one clean maneuver, then it started dawning on people that this tobacco tax money will probably run out over time," said John Jackson, an advisory member and organizer with the group California Child Care Providers for Action.

The question of free or fee was perhaps the most vexing. Surveys of parents indicated a willingness to pay a sliding fee based on income, with poor families receiving free services. Proponents say the fees would help fund the enrollment of more children.
But some advisory members worry that fees might drive away working- and middle-class parents and that the sliding scale might be viewed as another subsidized program for the poor.

A decision on fees is expected to be announced next month.
Another potentially controversial issue, however, was settled with surprising consensus. The advisory panel is recommending that dozens of "hot spots" critically short of child care and preschool spaces be given priority over neighborhoods with more space to build new centers but less need.

Research conducted for the panel pinpointed the location of almost all of the county's 153,000 4-year-olds. The studies found, for example, that the 90201 ZIP Code, which encompasses the city of Bell, has 2,500 of those children and only 354 licensed preschool spaces. Other hot spots include areas of Hawthorne, Long Beach, South Gate and Pacoima, and neighborhoods in and near downtown Los Angeles.

"I'm not suggesting we serve only poor neighborhoods, but we have to find a way to increase capacity in neighborhoods where there is great need but not a lot of room to build," said Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles), who is among the preschool planning advisors.

For others, a key issue was the quality of the teachers and curriculum.

"The linchpins to assure quality are who the provider is, their qualifications and compensation," said panel member Maryann O'Sullivan, executive director of Preschool California, a statewide advocacy group.

The master plan calls for a scoring system. Schools with the most highly trained staffs and most effective programs would receive the highest rating and level of funding.

Lower-rated centers or home-based programs would be eligible for training to increase their scores.

That is a worrisome prospect for panel member Tiffani Curtis-McDuffie, who runs an Inglewood preschool. She has a bachelor's degree in business, not in early childhood education, and fears that centers such as hers will be shortchanged.

Even as Los Angeles County's First 5 commission is poised to approve details of the highly anticipated system, the real work is just beginning, she added.

The idea of universal preschool "is phenomenal, and the opportunity for each child is incredible," Curtis-McDuffie said.
"But you know, this is a 10-year commitment, and in 10 years' time, we're still going to be hammering out issues like these."

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