The people of the City and County of San Francisco hereby find and declare the following:
(a) California subsidizes early childhood education for children whose families earn up to 75 percent of the State Median Income, but state funding limitations allow only an estimated 50 to 60 percent of eligible San Francisco families actually to receive the subsidy; and
(b) Children who attend high quality early education programs demonstrate higher rates of high school graduation, higher incomes as adults, and lower rates of arrest, dropout, teen pregnancy, and welfare dependence; and
(c) Every $1 invested in high quality early childhood education saves approximately $7 later in remedial education, welfare, and incarceration; and
(d) California is moving toward providing universal preschool through the First Five California Commission, established by the cigarette tax approved by the electorate in 1998, and has made available $100 million to increase access to pre-school by funding demonstration projects, expanding the pre-school teacher workforce, and matching funds for counties that establish programs to raise levels of pre-school attendance; and
(e) An estimated 1,650 3 to 5 year old children in San Francisco are not receiving the state early education subsidies for which they are eligible, and these children of working parents need access to full-day, full-year care to help these families stay in San Francisco; and
(f) San Francisco has a strong, existing network of licensed early childhood education and family child care home providers to help young children become "school ready"; and
(g) San Francisco has an existing infrastructure through the Department of Children, Youth and Families and its subcontractors to administer subsidies through a voucher system for eligible families, so that expanding San Francisco children's access to early childhood education can be done without creating new rules and regulations for licensing and eligibility; and
(h) An expanded system of early childhood education in San Francisco could qualify for matching funds from the First Five California Commission; and
(i) Portable subsidies linked to the consumer rather than the agency allow parents to choose culturally, linguistically appropriate child care providers close to work or home; and
(j) Annual reports from administrators to the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor will provide program evaluation and accountability.
(Added by Proposition I, 11/4/2003)
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