http://www.nclr.org/content/policy/detail/1508/

Overview

Improving the academic outcomes of Latino children is a critical issue for California given that they are the fastest-growing population in the state and represent our future workers, the underpinning of our economic progress. Currently, Latino children lag behind their peers in educational access, achievement, and attainment, and the very services that would help improve this outlook continue to underserve Latinos. In California, 47% of all children 0-5 years old are Latino, yet less than 37% of these children attend preschool. In addition, early education initiatives often fail to address adequately the quality of early education services for Latino and English language learner (ELL) children, who require linguistically and culturally responsive services to meet school readiness goals and fully and successfully integrate into the educational system. Click here to download a data sheet on early childhood education enrollment by county in California.

NCLR Position

NCLR urges policy-makers to move forward on Preschool for All (PFA) proposals that address important access barriers and quality issues for Latino children. Any effort to implement universal preschool must be coupled with meaningful outreach efforts to alert immigrant and English language learner parents about the eligibility of their children to participate in these programs and to facilitate enrollment. Second, real access by definition must include culturally and linguistically appropriate services to ensure that universal preschool will have positive academic outcomes for ELL students. Finally, given that Latinos make up a significant proportion of the preschool population, legislation should include efforts to recruit early childhood education instructors with language and cultural competence, and provide professional development in these areas for existing personnel.