To: Governor Gavin Newsom
Alabama is expanding preschools, California is expanding prisons. What's up with that?
Tightwad Governor Jerry Brown ignored preschool in his budget, while governors in Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma are increasing their early education budgets, because they know that kids who attend high-quality preschool are more likely to graduate high school and get better jobs. California needs universal preschool now!
Why is this important?
Less than half of California's kids are enrolled in preschool. That's a huge problem, because by her 5th birthday, 90% of a child's brain is developed. So when she steps into a classroom for the first time as a kindergartner, she is already 10 steps behind her peers who went to preschool - and she may never catch up. Prek graduates are better prepared for academic and lifetime success, while at-risk youth who don't go prek are 25% more likely to drop out of high school and 70% more likely to commit a crime and become incarcerated. The decision is up to Gov. Brown - will California invest in high-quality early education for every child or will California perpetuate the school-to-prison pipeline?