News and Events

Governor Newsom keeps his commitment to expanding Transitional Kindergarten

SACRAMENTO, CA – Early Learning advocacy organization Early Edge California commends Governor Gavin Newsom for preserving key Early Learning and Care investments in the May Revision, despite the significant budget deficit California faces this year. The Governor’s focus on uplifting California’s youngest learners and the adults who support them remains strong. He’s following through on his critical 2021 Budget commitment to make preschool free for all four-year-olds by funding the expansion of Transitional Kindergarten.

In addition, the Governor’s budget revision makes the following investments and policy changes to support children, families, and educators:

• Continued investment to support the expansion of TK with no delay, in light of declining enrollment and attendance across all grades. 
• Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program: additional funding to help address the shortage of qualified bilingual teachers by supporting them with grants to receive their bilingual authorization to teach in bilingual classrooms. 
• Provides a cost-of-living-adjustment of 8.22 percent to Child Care and Development Programs and the State Preschool Program.
• Includes May 2023 Early Action Budget legislation that allows DSS and CDE to use available funds to continue to waive family fees from July 1, 2023 to September 30, 2023 and to provide temporary stipends to state-subsidized child care and preschool providers.

“We thank Governor Newsom for maintaining his focus on supporting children and their families by continuing to invest in the expansion of Transitional Kindergarten for all 4-year-olds, a key component of strengthening Early Learning and Care in California. We recognize that further investment is needed to support the growth and retention of the Early Learning and Care workforce and to increase access to high-quality care options for California families including infant and toddler care,” said Patricia Lozano, Executive Director of Early Edge California.

Early Edge is glad to see the Governor’s focus on supporting Early Learning and Care in the May Revision and his initial January 2023 budget proposal. These investments, combined with recent investments in our California State Preschool and Transitional Kindergarten programs, including those in the 2023 Early Action Budget Plan, will help move towards a robust Early Learning and Care mixed-delivery system that will be able to meet the diverse needs of California’s children and families. 

Early Edge’s more in-depth overview of the May Revise’s Early Learning and Care investments will be released in the coming week.

# # #

Early Edge California is a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to improving access to high-quality Early Learning experiences for all California children so they can have a strong foundation for future success.