Don Owens
Office 202.862.9863
Mobile 202.302.5928
dowens@preknow.org

(Washington, DC) - Libby Doggett, executive director of Pre-K Now, released the following statement regarding today's defeat of Proposition 82 in California, the preschool for all ballot initiative.

"This is a missed opportunity for half-a-million children. Sadly, disadvantaged children will continue to have only the low quality program offered in California. Middle income families will continue to be squeezed by college-tuition-level
pre-k prices that they can't afford, and the wealthy will continue to be the only Californians with access to high-quality pre-k.

"The California outcome is widely divergent from the momentum we are seeing in the rest of the country. On the issue of pre-kindergarten California is out of step with the many states that are embracing pre-k as the first step in education reform.

"Quality pre-k will now be a part of school reform conversations in California. Some may be tired of ballot box budgeting, but the state must fill that void and act responsibly to improve California's K-12 system-quality pre-k is the first step to doing that."

Pre-K Now collaborates with state advocates and policymakers to lead a movement for high-quality, voluntary pre-kindergarten for all three and four year olds. The following funders have contributed to making this important work possible: The Pew Charitable Trusts, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, CityBridge Foundation, and the Schumann Fund for New Jersey.

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