Hello, find me on Blue Sky @daisynguyen.bsky.social where I’ll post more actively about early care and education issues.

Tomorrow, @KQED will have more on how the program’s growth will depend on parents opting in.

https://t.co/CCeWcm6Jha

Successful implementation of the $2.7 billion, 5-year rollout will depend on having enough teachers, aides, and the kind of classroom & play space for young kids. If not done right, one expert says, it could undermine the ambitious goals of universal TK.

California is in the middle of adding a new grade that guarantees a free year of preschool for all 4-year-olds. By next Fall, it will be the nation’s largest public preschool program. I teamed up @BlancaWrites and @ellywyu to examine the expansion of TK.

Thank you @sfchronicle for highlighting MAKE A CIRCLE, a doc about the CA's childcare system in crisis. See the film with directors JEN BRADWELL, TODD BOEKELHEIDE and other special guests in convo at DocLands! 📖 https://t.co/QOSjVuo2GP

Two stories I covered last year are the subjects of two documentaries screening this weekend at the #doclands film festival in San Rafael, CA. It’s wonderful to see the tireless women I met through my reporting are getting their moment in the spotlight.

Did you know: Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse and revolutionized food after failing as a Montessori preschool teacher. She joked @KQED Live event that she quit because she bit a biting child. “You learn by doing.”

🎙️ ON AIR: We're speaking w/ @daisynguyen, Mind Builder Center's Deo Agustin, @IRLEUCB's Anna Powell, and Senator @MoniqueLimonCA about the future of California childcare. ❓What is your experience finding quality affordable child care? 📻 Listen: https://t.co/KiLyiv8Trf

Assemblymember @PhilTing who heads the budget committee said while that sounds like a lot, those providers haven't received a rate increase since 2016. "This is not even a real raise. This is just keeping up with cost of living."

Amid tight budget year, Democratic legislators are putting the pressure on @GavinNewsom to increase pay rates to subsidized child care providers by $1 Billion. https://t.co/d6UG1w33KK

@CCPUCalifornia As one proponent says about #childcare: 'This is not some luxury that you can do without.'

@CCPUCalifornia Democrats in the state Senate suggest raising corporate taxes to pay child care workers. @ssanfranciscoDEC is using a business tax to do just that, and has expanded access.

The women of color who make up the workforce care for low-income kids on subsidies. But the state pays them based on 2016 rates. Legislators proposed a $1B cost-of-living increase to account for inflation. The union @CCPUCalifornia is pushing for longer term #ratereform

Tomorrow there’s an open house @KQED to celebrate its new headquarters. Here are two @CahillContract1 workers who helped build it. I met them at a construction job fair for women. What does construction have to do with child care? Tune in next week to find out.

President Biden's executive orders yesterday to improve access to child care may benefit tens of thousands of California families who receive subsidies. His directives include possibly lowering or getting rid of monthly fees & improve job quality for early educators.

A new report by @childrennow finds @ContraCostaCnty lost almost 90 child care providers since the start of the pandemic, leaving a big hole in the number of available child care slots. Some 3800 kids eligible for subsidized care are on a wait list.

Sad aftermath of yesterday’s bomb cyclone. This redwood tree once towered over the neighborhood.

This former transportation reporter appreciates the comment: "A California rolling stop saved this driver's life."

The way Jaime Pacheco gleefuly says "40!!!" has given me so much joy. @daisynguyen makes her The Bay debut with a great solutions episode on what can happen when a school district listens to parents and collabs w/nonprofits to support their needs.