How Universal Transitional Kindergarten Is Stressing Our Childcare System

By Jakob McWhinney, the Voice of San Diego

October 12, 2022

Universal transitional kindergarten, the landmark $2.7 billion initiative Gavin Newsom signed into law in 2021, has some problems. Not only is it beginning to push the already beleaguered childcare industry to a breaking point, but some feel its rollout at San Diego Unified hasn’t been ideal.

Shana Hazan, candidate for SDUSD’s sub-district B board seat said as much at Politifest. She worries the district rushed the implementation of UTK, and that some of the curriculum may not be ideal for the age group of the four-year-old children for whom it was designed. That’s why she’s chosen not to enroll her own UTK-aged daughter at the public school her elder daughter attends. Hazan believes the program is a positive development and that SDUSD will eventually get it right, but that “it’s just not there yet.”

During Politifest’s “What Role Should Government Play in Providing Childcare?” panel, Kim McDougall, YMCA’s VP of services also questioned whether four-year-old’s should be taught using kindergarten curriculum that’s essentially retrofitted for younger children, what’s known as a push-down system.

But implementation isn’t the only issue associated with UTK, as McDougall pointed out:

One of the most worrying side effects of the rollout of UTK statewide is its impact on traditional private childcare providers. “Our childcare system for many years before COVID has been struggling to stay afloat and available to families,” McDougall said. Some parents are stuck paying up to 30 percent of their income on childcare, leaving providers – many of whom make minimum wage, or less than minimum wage when extra hours worked are factored in – feeling like they’re unable to charge more. Those low wages in turn make the industry unappealing to many workers.

The UTK program has also cannibalized the most profitable age-group of kids for that private childcare industry, as the panel’s moderator, KPBS’ Claire Trageser explained:

Laura Kohn, senior director of Mission Driven Finance had an even more dire prognosis:

For McDougall, the early experience is discouraging because of how positive such the investment could be:

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