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	Let's Make It Happen Universal preschool is not an entirely new idea. Universal preschool has been long established in other industrialized nations, such as France, and has been widely discussed among American early childhood education experts.


	State Level At the state level, Georgia and New York already have passed legislative measures aimed at expanding the availability of preschool education. A federally funded universal preschool program could improve school readiness by making preschool available to all children regardless of the state or local community in which they live, and by setting national standards for program quality.


	Availability The universal preschool program would be available to children age three to five in centers that would be open from morning until late afternoon. The hours of operation would be set to meet the needs of working parents in the local community.

The real cost of UPK in California is difficult to determine as it depends greatly on the assumptions of the program model: ages of children, ratios, staff qualifications, cost in the county and a variety of other factors such as double sessions and wrap around child care. These models are based on the Bay Area's current cost. They are provided to help you determine your own Cost Analysis within your own community. The Excel Spread sheet can be changed to meet local conditions, models, costs and the Santa Clara Cost Study can help clarify the issues." As other models are developed and are know, we will post them for your use on this web site.

Financing Early Childhood Care and Education For Santa Clara County At the True Cost of Quality Care (Word Doc)
Actual Cost of Preschool for All Program Quality Program (Excel Sheet)

The movement in California for Universal Preschool is not only confusing because of the various issues of the impact on other age groups, closed or open delivery system, unions such as CTA, comprehensive services for families and children and the need for working families for full day programs, but also because of the various "players" in the movement in California. We have provided an Adobe Acrobat chart of the various activities now going on in California. It will never be up to date or comprehensive as UPK in California is a fast changing world. This chart is provided to help gain a better understanding of the current status.
California Preschool For All Efforts

Speech on PFA by Former Supt. of Public Instruction, Delaine Eastin