SEC. 16.123-4. UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO EARLY EDUCATION.
§ 16.123-4
San Francisco aims to provide quality early education to all resident children ages 3–5, prioritizing 4-year-olds, beginning by September 2015. The Department of Early Care (DEC) must develop a comprehensive plan by January 2016 in consultation with schools, child care agencies, and community groups, addressing program quality, provider support, neighborhood needs, and equity. One-third of the Public Education Enrichment Fund is appropriated annually to support these programs, and a Citizens Advisory Committee must be established to advise on implementation.
The city wants all San Francisco children ages 3 to 5 to have access to good preschool and early education programs, especially 4-year-olds. By January 2016, city departments and community groups must write a plan for how to expand these programs, including how to improve teacher training, meet neighborhood needs, and help low-income families. The city will pay for these programs using money from the Public Education Enrichment Fund. A committee of community members will help the city make decisions about how to use the money.
- Complex:The section contains multiple cross-referenced studies, agencies, and components (equity analysis, professional development guidelines, neighborhood-specific metrics) that together create a dense procedural and substantive framework.
- Controversial:Universal early education involves questions of public spending priorities, equity in resource distribution by neighborhood, and the role of government versus private providers—issues on which San Franciscans hold differing views.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) Universal Access to Early Education. It shall be the goal of the City and County of San Francisco to provide all children between the ages of three and five years who are City residents the opportunity to attend quality early education programs, giving priority to four year old children. It is the goal of the people in adopting this measure to expand such access beginning no later than September 1, 2015, building upon the work of the City's existing Preschool for All program. This portion of the Fund may also be used to support the development of services for children from birth to three years old.
(b) Planning Process. No later than January 1, 2016, DEC, in consultation with the San Francisco Child Care Planning and Advisory Council, the First Five Commission, the San Francisco Unified School District, the San Francisco Human Services Agency, the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, and community stakeholders, shall submit to the Board of Supervisors a proposal for expanding quality universal early education for San Francisco. The Board of Supervisors shall approve the plan by resolution; if the Board does not approve the plan, it may refer the plan back to DEC for revision.
In preparing the plan, DEC may consult with the First Five Commission to develop universal early education funding guidelines consistent with the findings of the 2012-2013 Child Care Planning and Advisory Council’s San Francisco Child Care Needs Assessment, the 2012 San Francisco Citywide Plan for Early Education, First 5 San Francisco’s 2013 Evaluations of the Preschool for All program, the San Francisco Unified School District’s 2014 Kindergarten Readiness Data, and the Office of Early Care and Education’s 2014 Financing Study.
The plan shall include goals for the quality of early care and education programs, shall align with emerging developments in state and/or federal early care and education policy, and
shall address the professional development needs of center-based and family child care providers. “Professional development” as used in this Section 16.123-4 includes education, technical assistance and coaching, training, and supports, and shall be aligned with the City’s goals for early care and education program quality. Additionally, in preparing the plan, DEC shall develop guidelines designed to meet neighborhood-specific needs, including school readiness, subsidy availability, children’s dual language development, facility development, parent engagement and education, inclusion of children with special needs, and provider support for both family child care homes and child care centers. Such funding guidelines also shall address the unmet need for universal early education and child care slots in specific City neighborhoods.
The plan shall also include an equity analysis of services and resources for children and families. The Early Childhood Community Oversight and Advisory Committee, or any successor entity, shall develop a set of equity metrics to be used to compare existing services and resources in low-income and disadvantaged communities with services and resources available in the City as a whole.
Following the Board of Supervisors’ approval of the plan, DEC, in collaboration with the San Francisco Unified School District and First Five Commission, shall develop an evaluation plan for tracking the results of the City’s investments in early care and education.
(c) Annual Disbursements. For Fiscal Year 2014-2015, the City shall appropriate one-third of the money in the Public Education Enrichment Fund to the First Five Commission for universal preschool programs administered by the Commission. Beginning July 1, 2015, the City each year shall appropriate one-third of the money in the Public Education Enrichment Fund to DEC for early education programs to be administered by that office or entity or its successor.
(d) Citizens Advisory Committee. No later than March 1, 2015, the Board of Supervisors shall establish, by ordinance, a Citizens Advisory Committee to provide recommendations to DEC on universal access to early education and the funds appropriated under this Section 16.123-4 .
(Added March 2004; amended November 2014; Proposition J, Approved 11/5/2024)