TKW Consulting

OAKLAND, Calif., June 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a statement from Preschool California President Catherine Atkin:

"The loss of Prop. 82 is also a loss for hundreds of thousands of California children each year who still have no access to quality preschool programs that would help them get ready to succeed in school. The people who came together to fight for Prop. 82 are not giving up or going away. We remain committed to improving preschool quality and expanding access to all California children."

"Our victory is that preschool is now high on the California radar. Many more people now understand that preschool has the power to open doors and change lives. There will never be another serious conversation in this state about school reform that does not include preschool."

"Preschool California will continue to work with others to make sure that no California
children are denied the proven benefits that quality preschool provides."

Preschool California is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization working to establish quality, publicly-funded preschool opportunity for all 4-year-olds in California

Prop. 82 Defeat a Loss for California's Children; Nationally Other States Move Forward
6/7/2006 2:42:00 PM

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., June 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The defeat of Proposition 82 means that hundreds of thousands of California children lose the opportunity to secure the good educational foundation they need and deserve, but nationally the movement toward making good preschool education available for all children is alive and vigorous, said Steve Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). "Our research shows that state- funded preschool grew 20 percent over the past five years and that momentum continues across the nation. The governors of Illinois or Virginia aren't waiting for California to get on board to make pre-K available to all children," said Barnett.

Barnett said California still must tackle its early education crisis with a serious preschool education plan for all children, pointing out that when it comes to 4th grade reading, California is tied for last in the nation with states like Mississippi and Nevada. "The roots of this problem really do reach back to inadequate education prior to kindergarten and the fact that few California children have access to high-quality preschool education."

Barnett suggested that policy makers heed lessons borne out by research and experience in other states. "High-quality voluntary programs for all can dramatically improve school readiness for children of all backgrounds. Adequate teacher pay and qualifications are essential to highly effective preschool education. Ensure quality before quantity. Proposition 82 was not perfect, but it had a lot of this right. Policy makers should learn from that plan too, when -- not if -- they go back to the pre-K drawing board."

Steve Barnett is a professor of Education Economics and Public Policy at Rutgers University. His research includes the long-term effects of preschool programs on children's learning and development, the educational opportunities and experiences of young children, and benefit-cost analyses of preschool programs and their long-term effects.