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First 5 LA Creates Agency to Implement New Univeral Preschool System

July 12, 2004
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LA-UP will oversee policymaking and day-to-day operation of the most important improvement in the last half century in how we educate our children.

Los Angeles, CA – First 5 LA’s Board of Commissioners today took a critical step forward in the development of Universal Preschool for Los Angeles County. The board approved a contract creating Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LA-UP) – a nonprofit public benefit corporation – that will implement the most ambitious educational program in half a century in this county. This agency will oversee fundraising, policymaking and day-to-day operation of a landmark system that will, within the next 10 years, offer high-quality preschool to every four-year-old child in Los Angeles County whose parents choose to participate.
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"The approval of this contract with LA-UP marks a major leap forward in our effort to create a better future for every child in Los Angeles County," said Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Don Knabe, who also chairs First 5 LA’s Board of Commissioners. "Now the pieces are in place to make quality early education a reality for every family in our community."

LA-UP will implement the Universal Preschool system according to a 10-year Master Plan approved by First 5 LA’s Board of Commissioners in February. This ambitious Plan was created through an inclusive eight-month process that gathered valuable input from parents and stakeholders representing philanthropy, child care, early education, government and business. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, UCLA, KCET, the California Endowment, the Annenberg Foundation, the Los Angeles County Office of Education, the Los Angeles Children’s Planning Council and numerous community-based organizations were among the many institutions whose representatives took active roles in the planning process.

First 5 LA and LA-UP will fund its initial programs this fall and quickly expand each year, building on the existing infrastructure of early education programs including Head Start, child care and California State preschool. "Although it will take 10 years to fully implement Universal Preschool, it’s important to get started in communities as soon as possible so families can see the incredible benefits of quality early education," said First 5 LA Executive Director Evelyn V. Martinez.

The new Universal Preschool system will provide access to each of the 153,000 4-year-olds in Los Angeles County – only 50 percent of which are enrolled in some form of preschool today. According to data compiled by First 5 LA, of those that are enrolled in programs, only a fraction receives quality, professional services.

First 5 LA approved its Universal Preschool initiative in August 2002 in response to research showing that a child’s experiences during the first few years of life influence how the brain develops and often define future learning capabilities.

First 5 LA (also known as the Los Angeles County Children and Families First – Proposition 10 Commission), along with First 5 California and 57 other county Proposition 10 commissions throughout the state, was established following a voter-passed initiative in November 1998. Proposition 10 mandated a 50 cents-per-pack tax on cigarettes to fund education, health, child care and other programs to promote early childhood development for expectant parents and children up to age 5. Prop. 10 was designed to address the lack of public funding and support for early childhood development in the wake of a growing body of scientific evidence indicating that the emotional, physical, social and developmental environment to which children are exposed has a profound impact on their ability to reach their greatest potential in school and to become productive members of society.