California expanded preschool access, but report says state needs to improve quality

While enrollment for public preschool programs grows in California, researchers say they lag behind other states when it comes to quality measures.

In the 2024-25 school year, California served 278,273 kids in its two state-funded programs, up more than 25,000 over the year before:

• Transitional kindergarten, a new grade for 4-year-olds in public schools
• California State Preschool Program, which serves families based on income

In a new report, researchers found both programs lacked several quality measures.

The National Institute for Early Education Research, out of Rutgers University, scores public preschool programs across the country on a series of benchmarks, including class sizes and teacher training. While transitional kindergarten met three out of 10 benchmarks last year, the state preschool program met six out of 10.

Georgia and five other states met 10 out of the 10 benchmarks.

Reporting by LAist earlier this year found that while the state has spent billions on rolling out transitional kindergarten — a new grade that became available to all 4-year-olds starting this past fall — the state hasn’t set up a formal plan to evaluate it. One of the measures of quality the researchers look at is a quality improvement system.

“Only high-quality early care and education programs support children’s development enough to result in lasting academic and other gains that ultimately deliver savings for taxpayers,” said Allison Friedman-Krauss, lead author of the report.

The report comes as new enrollment numbers for this school year show enrollment in transitional kindergarten grew 20% compared to last school year.