In this guest commentary, California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and Assemblyman Kevin McCarty state their support for Pre-K for all to help every young child in California.
The authors quote Stanford’s Getting Down to Facts II report, which stated that more than 30 percent of California’s low-income 4-year-olds and 66 percent of low-income 3-year-olds lack access to quality pre-k. These children enter kindergarten unprepared for school and seldom catch up. This achievement gap has long-term repercussions, not just for children’s long-term success, but also for our state’s economy as a whole.
Superintendent Thurmond and Assemblyman McCarty state, “We have school age daughters who were fortunate to attend preschool and we’ve seen firsthand the difference it’s made. Every child in California deserves that same opportunity, and that’s why we are advocating for pre-kindergarten education for all kids.”