Kidango is an early learning nonprofit committed to setting every child on a path to thrive in kindergarten and in life. As the largest child care provider in the San Francisco Bay Area, we provide children with safe, healthy and nurturing environments and relationships, fostering the social, emotional, and academic skills they need to learn, grow and realize their potential. From our position at the nexus of practice, policy and research, we advocate for evidence-based early learning and care policies that help close the opportunity and readiness gaps for our youngest learners.
Kidango’s advocacy, policy, and research team is committed to designing and moving forward policy solutions that uplift the voices and perspectives of families and child care professionals. Kidango’s advocacy process is built to involve families and child care professionals at each step of the way. Our budget and policy priorities this year were shaped by focus groups and insights directly from Kidango classrooms and staff, from departments ranging from enrollment to nutrition.
Our state has made huge commitments and policy changes to move towards an Early Care and Education (ECE) field that is professionally and financially supported to create environments where all children can thrive. Our priorities this year are grounded in our strongly held conviction that we must continue this momentum if we are to achieve the transformative system changes California has laid out in the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care. This can be seen in the issues we will advocate for on a state level, as well as our focus on implementing new policies and practices in the most beneficial ways possible for children.
2024-2025 Budget & Policy Priorities
In Alignment with the ECEBudget Coalition,
- Affirm the commitment to the timeline and benchmarks established in SB140 (2023)to move to an Alternative Methodology for ECE rates aligned with the recommendations of the state working group and the Joint Labor Management Committee.
- Ensure costs associated with moving to an Alternative Methodology build on the revised rates, including one-time stipends provided in the current year – as a transition plan for when the Alternative Methodology is developed and use the 2023-24 budget deal as the starting point so the state does not go back to prior levels.
- Continue the rollout of the additional 200,000 child care spaces, per the commitment made in the 2021-2022 StateBudget Act.
Advance Equitable and Anti-Racist Policies to Preserve, Empower, & Build Up the ECE Workforce
- Expand the covered staff training days per contract period from two days to six in all ECE subsidized programs. ECE teachers need more paid, working hours time for professional learning.
- By advancing AB1930, allow the Associate Teacher permit to be renewable in perpetuity so that teachers who choose to stay in that position and support children do not lose their permit or leave the field.
- Institute an Associate Teacher Emergency Credential so that individuals with 6 ECE credits may serve as an Associate Teacher while working towards the credits required for that permit. This Emergency Certification would be valid for a total of 24 months and will greatly help to address the staffing shortage and increase the pipeline of Associate Teachers.
- Identify Low-cost, Common Sense Administrative Technical Changes for ECE Programs
- Update the Equipment Purchase Approval Request(EPAR)threshold limit so that programs
can quickly purchase items and services to meet the needs of children.
- Update the Equipment Purchase Approval Request(EPAR)threshold limit so that programs
In alignment withBlack Californians United for Early Care and Education, uplift policies that:
- Addresses the racial wage gaps in ECE
- Promotes culturally affirming care and education
- Intentionally includes Black families in state-level input convenings and working groups.
- Continue to build strong collaboration with partners in the birth-age 5 system between
agencies, school districts, and local colleges and universities that places families and
children at the center.
Ongoing Policy Priorities
Our overarching policy objectives continue to be the following:
Children, particularly infants and toddlers, and those who have been most marginalized; specifically Black, Latinx, Indigenous children and families, and others harmed by systemic racism, oppression, exclusion, and economic inequities; have equitable access to high-quality early childhood services that meet their unique needs.
ECE programs in centers, family child care homes, and public schools provide high-quality early learning and care designed to improve child outcomes and school readiness:
- All children are supported to become bilingual and bi-literate.
- Secure a 10% adjustment factor for dual language immersion in CSPP classrooms
- Work with up to 5 counties to embed a DLL-focus in local Quality Counts California (QCC) systems, including quality improvement efforts, developing tools, communication materials, training, etc. whereby points and additional funding are allocated to QCC systems for dual immersion classrooms.
- Secure funding to establish a robust community of practice connecting ECE professional development providers with DLL expertise that builds their capacity to provide DLL-focused training across mixed delivery systems.
A whole-child, whole-family early childhood system designed to meet the comprehensive needs of children and families, including mental health, health, nutrition, well-being, and basic needs.
- Reimagining inclusion policies, models, and practices in state preschool to equitably support the diverse needs of all children.
- Monitor new inclusion policies and implementation to ensure the outcome is radically accepting and affirming environments for children of all abilities. Within these efforts, keep a close eye on how these policies impact our Black, Latinx, and Indigenous children. Advocate for policy changes, as needed, and for shifts in practice in programs across the state by disseminating information about Kidango’s process to reimagine our inclusion culture and practices.
Contact Us
If you’re passionate about early childhood education and would like to make your voice heard, join our advocacy network.
For more information about policy and advocacy at Kidango, please contact Maéva Marc, VP of Advocacy & Policy, at mmarc@kidango.org.
Legislative Resources
