Two years ago, California’s state budget agreement included an ambitious new initiative to fund and implement Universal Transitional Kindergarten (or UTK), so that all 4-year-olds in the state have access to it by 2025-26. It’s part of a larger long-term goal the state and school districts have been working towards to expand early education and also provide access to Universal Pre-Kindergarten, or UPK, for all students. 

In this first of a two-part episode, Sarah Neville Morgan, Deputy Superintendent at the California Department of Education and longtime early education policy leader, describes this historic moment we're in when it comes to early education and fulfilling the promise of public education. Sarah discusses the why and how of UPK and UTK implementation, including work the state has been doing to support local efforts, resources, challenges, and implications and strategies for advancing equity. The  goal, she says, is for all children to hit kindergarten and first- third grades not just ready to learn, but ready to soar. Sarah and Jason also explore more generally how systems can approach planning for and implementing major new initiatives.

**Be sure to check out the Episode 3 Companion Brief from WestEd

Other Resources

• "How Are California School Districts Planning for Universal Prekindergarten? Results From a 2022 Survey" -- April 2023 report by the Learning Policy Institute
• Universal PreKindergarten FAQs from the CDE
• Transitional Kindergarten FAQs from the CDE
• 21CSLA Learning Brief,  Preparing California School Leaders for Young Learners in the UTK Initiative

About Our Guest 

Sarah Neville-Morgan has served in many key leadership and policy positions at the state level. She was previously the Director of the CDE Early Learning and Care Division; Deputy Director of Program Management at First 5 California; Deputy Executive Director of the Governor’s Early Learning Advisory Council during the Schwarzenegger and Brown administrations; and she currently serves as a Deputy Superintendent at the California Department of Education, overseeing the Opportunities for All branch. Previously she also served as an Academic Child Development Specialist at the University of California, Davis Center for Child and Family Studies.

About our host

Jason Willis serves as  Director of Strategic Resource Planning and Implementation for WestEd, and he is a former chief business official in several California school districts

About our series

Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by the California Association of School Business Official (CASBO)and WestEd. We are grateful to the Sobrato Family Foundation for additional support. 
@budget4edequity