California could get $350 million for preschool under federal proposal - by Lillian Mongeau
by Lillian Mongeau
California could nearly double its spending on public preschool with an influx of federal funding if the president’s proposal to significantly increase the money available for early childhood programs passes Congress, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday.
Since President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address in January, early learning has become the centerpiece of the administration’s education policy agenda. The president has proposed a federal program, funded by an increased tobacco tax, that would partner with states to expand access to and quality of public preschool programs for low- and moderate-income 4-year-olds. The program would also provide funding for expanded infant and toddler care. Both initiatives would cost $75 billion in new early learning funds over the next decade.
California would be eligible for an additional $334 million in federal preschool funding with a required state match of $33.4 million, according to federal estimates. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that this would allow the state to serve an additional 41,000 children. The department did not specify if these children would be served by a full- or half-day program. In 2011-2012, California spent $386 million to provide half-day state preschool to more than 200,000 children.
The information released Tuesday offers the first glimpse at what individual states could expect to
