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Education

California Women's Caucus Proposes New Spending On Pre-K Programs

Members of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus propose at least $625 million for early childhood development, May 2014.
Max Pringle / Capital Public Radio
Members of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus propose at least $625 million for early childhood development, May 2014.

Members of California’s Legislative Women’s Caucus are proposing at least $625 million in this year’s budget for early childhood development. The Caucus wants to restore more than 100,000 early childhood program spaces cut during the recession.

Democratic Sen. Hannah Beth-Jackson says the added revenue could return 40,000 of those lost spaces.

“We are calling on the governor and our leadership to re-invision our future and re-invest in it,” says Jackson. “Our future really is our children.”

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Members of the Women’s Caucus say State Senate President Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg’s proposal to fund pre-school for 4-year-olds is a good start, but ages 0-3 are also crucial development years.

The Department of Finance says the governor’s budget proposal sets nearly $700 million aside to fund existing childcare programs.

But the Brown administration warn against adding hundreds of millions of dollars in new spending to this year’s budget, even with a couple of billion dollars in unexpected revenue since January. Administration officials say there is no guarantee the money will be there in the future.