Ballot Measure Proposed to Offer Free Preschool for All 4-Year-Olds

Filmmaker Rob Reiner and a coalition of labor, law enforcement and education leaders plan to announce a new initiative today aimed at establishing free, voluntary, part-day preschool for all California 4-year-olds.

Intended for the June 2006 ballot, the Preschool for All Act would be funded by an additional 1.7% state tax on annual incomes of more than $800,000 for couples and more than $400,000 for individuals.

The measure, which would affect an estimated 100,000 filers, would raise about $2.3 billion annually for a trust fund dedicated to preschool improvements. Currently, about 47% of the state’s 500,000 4-year-olds are enrolled in preschool. The measure seeks to increase that to at least 70%.

“This is an historic piece of legislation because it not only provides a quality preschool experience for all 4-year-olds, but it’s the beginning of a process by which we strengthen the educational system, build a stronger economy and also reduce crime,” Reiner said during a teleconference joined by other supporters.

Reiner has been mentioned as a possible Democratic candidate for governor in 2006.

The initiative’s sponsors cited research showing that preschool attendance in quality programs can lay a strong foundation for success in kindergarten through 12th grade and beyond.

And they asserted that California has lost its competitive edge with states such as Florida, Georgia, New York and Oklahoma, which have invested public dollars in preschool systems.

The measure would amend the state Constitution to guarantee free, voluntary preschool for children one year before kindergarten.

By targeting the highest income earners, Reiner hopes to avoid the political pummeling he encountered last year when he abandoned a broader school funding measure that would have revised Proposition 13 and raised commercial property taxes.

But anti-tax groups already are assailing the preschool proposal, saying that high-income taxpayers are a convenient but misguided target.

“It’s a bad idea, and I think our recent history should make that clear,” said Larry McCarthy, president of the California Taxpayers Assn.

“I think that we’re sending a message to higher-income Californians that, if you stay here and maintain a residence, you will be tagged with more and more responsibility for various programs, and it’s an unwelcome signal.”

Reiner and others argue, however, that the top 1% of earners got an average tax cut of $77,000 from the federal government last year and can afford to pay additional taxes.

“I don’t feel this is onerous at all,” said Reiner, who, as one of those high-earners, said he would be happy to contribute. “We are not doing anything that hasn’t been done under Ronald Reagan and Pete Wilson. The act would go back to the tax structure under those two governors.”

A spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he has not seen the details and has not taken a position on the measure.

But this measure is likely to attract more business support than last year’s. Reiner created an exploratory committee that included business leaders such as Sherry Lansing, chairman emeritus of Paramount Pictures, to craft the new measure.

“The calculation for us is that we need a well-educated work force in the public and private sector in order to remain competitive,” said San Francisco businessman Phil Halperin, who is president of the Silver Giving Foundation. “We hear time and time again that starting as early as kindergarten, children are not ready to learn.”