America-wide universal pre-school is dead, but California forges ahead

Its programme is costly, but has many potential benefits

ALTADENA, CA - AUGUST 12: Loara Owen, left, with husband Mike Owen high-five their triplet daughters Mattie, Daryn and Sadie, left tor right, that are Kindergarten students preparing for their first day in a classroom as parents say good bye when they deliver their students to teachers for the first day of school for PreK - 5th Grade students at Jackson STEM Dual Language Magnet Academy in Altadena. For the kindergarten and first grade students it will be their first time in a classroom. Jackson STEM Dual Language Magnet Academy on Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021 in Altadena, CA. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images).

Sep 15th 2022|Oakland, California

“Agua?” a small boy with a long black ponytail stretches up his arm while standing on his toes, waving his red water bottle to and fro. A young bilingual woman, his new teacher, bends over and responds to him in Spanish. He nods and finishes the water in his bottle. Then he spins round and bounces over to a child-size desk to join his peers drawing pictures—from intricate daisies to messy swirls—with crayons. This child, along with about 50,000 other Californian four-year-olds, is experiencing his very first month of free universal pre-kindergarten.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “California goes universal”