Preschool Program Gets Mixed Marks
Arcadia Lopez has noticed some dramatic changes in the few weeks her 4-year-old son has been attending pre-kindergarten at Camino Nuevo Charter Academy in East Los Angeles: New words and concepts seem to flow from Jonathan's mouth almost daily, and instead of grabbing at a toy he wants, he asks politely.
"He's learning to be friendly and to share," Lopez said while seated in a pint-sized chair in Jonathan's classroom. "If he wasn't here, he'd probably be with a neighbor and watching television, so I'm really happy he's here."
The charter academy is one of a growing number of centers financed by Los Angeles Universal Preschool program, which is funded with more than $600 million in tobacco tax money. The goal is to make high-quality, voluntary preschool available to at least 70% of the county's 4-year-olds -- about 100,000 children -- over the next decade, and eventually to 100%.
Launched in March, the program is in its first full school year and has enrolled nearly 3,500 children, about 1,300 of whom are using newly created space. The program is funding 100 preschool centers. And in one of the first attempts of its kind, funding is also being provided to an initial 35 home day-care facilities where children will receive preschool instruction.
Last week, the program committed $42.7 million to increase participation in the most underserved areas of the county with projects to renovate existing structures, install portable classrooms to create more room and build new classrooms.
Although the program is still in its infancy, officials say it is already giving families more options and enhancing communities where it operates.
"I think we're very much on target," said the program's executive director, Graciela Italiano-Thomas. "We had a good blueprint, where a lot of people took a lot of time to really think this through carefully. And we have a lot of political momentum where we feel really supported."
But it is also a program with few precedents, and as it attempts to refashion the county's early childhood education system, it still faces formidable hurdles. Los Angeles Universal Preschool must coordinate a complex dance of expanding classroom space while ensuring there are enough teachers. It also must collaborate with colleges and universities to create early childhood learning programs.
