What Californians Think About Preschool: A Statewide Survey of Attitudes

Between December 10 and 18, 2003, Peter D. Hart Research Associates surveyed a representative cross section of 1,317 adult residents of California. Two central findings emerge from the results of this research.

• First, the public displays a broad and consistent recognition of the importance of quality preschool programs.
• Second, a widely held view exists that California is doing too little to provide children with opportunities to attend quality preschool programs before they start kindergarten.

These attitudes lead Californians to favor action to improve access to quality preschool. For example, two-thirds of the state’s residents agree that “making quality preschool available to all is an important priority for California to address now, in part because getting young children ready to learn will help improve the success of K-through-twelve education.”