California made an ambitious commitment in 2021 to expand universal prekindergarten (UPK) to all 4-year-olds and income-eligible 3-year-olds by 2025–26, with more than $4 billion in proposed investments in 2025. As we enter the final year of UPK expansion, we will take stock of how far we have come and where we need to go in an in-person briefing.
This briefing will share research from the Learning Policy Institute on who is enrolling in state-funded prekindergarten programs, how enrollment has changed over time, and what informs families’ decisions about where to enroll their children. The research will examine how districts are delivering PreK, focusing on key areas like facilities, transportation, instruction, multilingual learners, children with special needs, and workforce development. A panel of practitioners and experts will share their UPK experiences and discuss strategies for future success.
This event is designed for California state legislators and staff, school and district leaders, and others working to build a robust early learning system in California.
Click to read more about each speaker.
Dianna J. Ballesteros
Director of Early Learning, Alum Rock Union Elementary School District
Dianna J. Ballesteros has been the Director of Early Learning of the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District since August 2016, returning to the district she had previously attended as a child from K–8. As Director of Early Learning, Ballesteros—with many like-minded educational and community partners—has focused on a roadmap to build a high-quality birth through 3rd-grade community, integrating and aligning the worlds of early and elementary learning in Alum Rock Elementary School District. Her teaching experience spans from early education to community and university levels in urban environments. Ballesteros enjoyed teaching at the community college level to Spanish- and English-speaking early education cohorts. She also has experience in employee-sponsored centers as a center director working for companies that led the way in supporting their employees at Apple, Inc., Genentech, and Cisco Systems. She has worked in the nonprofit world as an executive director in a socioeconomically integrated historical model that has served families in early education for 107 years. Her academic interests include equity in education, appreciative and caring ethics in learning, social-emotional development, linguistic diversity, and education as a human right for all.
Lissete Frausto
Parent Organizer, Kidango
Lissete Frausto has been a parent organizer with Kidango's Advocacy Team since 2019. She was born and raised in Oakland, CA, and is a mother to three children. She has been appointed to various committees, including California’s Early Childhood Policy Council Parent Committee by Governor Gavin Newsom in November 2019, California's Early Childhood Policy Council Committee in 2023, and Alameda County Child Care Planning Council Steering Committee in 2023. She is now part of the K–12 system advocating both at her children's school and at the district level. Frausto’s role as a parent-organizer is to help uplift the voices of families, staff, and teachers to share their stories with elected officials and make an impact for change within early childhood education and preschool. She started advocating after her family experienced a traumatic event at a family childcare home with her now 8-year-old son, which included a hospital stay for a subdural hematoma and multiple retinal hemorrhages. Her work at Kidango reflects her passion for advocating for other families facing similar challenges, for multilingual children and families to have more opportunities and curriculum that are suited to them, as well as for high-quality early childhood education (ECE) and wage equity for ECE workers.
Dora Jacildo
Executive Director, Child Lane
Dora Jacildo joined Child Lane as Executive Director in 2016 and stewards a $20 million organizational budget. Child Lane serves roughly 6,000 children and their families each year in Long Beach, the South Bay area of Los Angeles County, and parts of Orange County through its Early Care and Education Program, Family Support Services, and Nutrition Program. Jacildo has a combined 25 years of nonprofit leadership experience in addition to a wealth of nonprofit management expertise working with women and children. Jacildo is a recognized community leader and currently serves on the Los Angeles County Commission for Children and Families, the Los Angeles County Education Coordinating Council, and the Board of The Nonprofit Partnership in Long Beach. She has held board leadership positions with EveryChild California, the Villages of Cabrillo Collaborative, Harbor Community Health Centers, Child360 (formerly Los Angeles Universal Preschool), and was the former 4th Supervisorial District appointee to the Los Angeles County Policy Roundtable for Child Care and Development and the Los Angeles County Commission on Women. Jacildo has a Master of Arts in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College which includes a specialization in Social Change.
Corey Jackson
California State Assembly, District 60
Corey A. Jackson was elected to the California State Assembly in November 2022 to represent the 60th Assembly District and was reelected for a second term in November 2024. In 2023, he served as chair of the Human Services Committee and currently chairs Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Human Services. Jackson served on the Riverside County Board of Education in 2020 and represented portions of the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, Perris, and the unincorporated community of Mead Valley. He also served as the founder and Chief Executive Officer of SBX Youth and Family Services, whose mission is to break the cycle of poverty and violence through mentoring, education, and community organizing. The organization was instrumental in the settlement of a lawsuit against the unconstitutional Youth Accountability Team program in Riverside County that treated thousands of youth—especially those of color—like criminals for minor adolescent misbehavior. Jackson graduated from CSU San Bernardino, where he received his degree in political science and served as a member of the CSU Board of Trustees and Chair of the Santo Manuel Student Union Board of Directors. He is also a graduate of California Baptist University, where he received his Master of Social Work degree and a Doctor of Social Work degree.
Sonia P. Jaramillo
Former Senior Director, Monterey County Office of Education Early Learning Program
Sonia Jaramillo is the former Senior Director for the Monterey County Office of Education Early Learning Program, where she was responsible for the operational oversight of 34 preschool classrooms within the county. In this capacity, she managed a team of more than 140 staff members and directed strategic initiatives to improve early childhood education services. Under her leadership, the program secured more than $32 million in grants, including federal and state funding, to support the construction of a new four-classroom STEAM-based fully inclusive preschool facility. Additionally, state funds were allocated to retrofit existing facilities to ensure comprehensive inclusion of all children in daily programming. With more than 35 years of experience in the field of education, Jaramillo held various leadership roles, including teacher, mentor, coordinator, principal, and director, across multiple school districts. She was committed to fostering partnerships and leveraging community resources to enhance educational outcomes. Her dedication to the advancement of early childhood education led to her appointment by the California State Senate to Governor Gavin Newsom’s Early Childhood Policy Council, where she represents the Monterey County region, further demonstrating her influence in shaping state-level policy for early education.
Patricia Lozano
Executive Director, Early Edge California
Patricia Lozano is the Executive Director of Early Edge California, a champion for children, and an early learning expert with more than 25 years in the field. Lozano started as a preschool teacher in Colombia, where she gained insight into the daily work of an early learning teacher and the importance of having access to professional development opportunities and bilingual programs. In her early work, she worked at UCLA, RAND Corporation, and First 5 LA where she measured quality in preschool programs as a researcher. More recently, she served as Senior Program Officer at the Gates Foundation and worked on identifying best practices of PreK programs in the United States to guide the Gates Foundation’s early learning strategy. In her current role as Executive Director of Early Edge California, Lozano has been a driving force in new legislation to expand California’s Universal Transitional Kindergarten program, which will provide free preschool for all of California’s 4-year-olds by 2026, with two educators per classroom. This will create the largest PreK program in the United States.
Hanna Melnick
Senior Policy Advisor and Director of Early Learning Policy, Learning Policy Institute
Hanna Melnick is Director of Early Learning Policy and Senior Policy Advisor at the Learning Policy Institute (LPI). Her work centers on policies that can improve early learning systems in California and other states, particularly preparing a high-quality, diverse educator workforce. She is also a member of the LPI Whole Child Education team, with a focus on school climate and social-emotional learning, and author of several LPI reports as well as two books. Before joining LPI, Melnick was a public school teacher in East Palo Alto and San Jose, CA, where she started as a Teach for America corps member. After leaving the classroom, Melnick consulted for K–12 and ECE organizations on issues related to California’s Local Control Funding Formula and the coordination of public preschool and subsidized child care. Melnick holds an MPP from the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley and a BA from Harvard University.
Paula Merrigan
Transitional Kindergarten Teacher, Castro Valley Unified School District
Paula Merrigan is a Transitional Kindergarten teacher in Castro Valley, CA. As a dedicated educator and advocate for early childhood education, she brings firsthand classroom experience to her leadership roles in education policy and advocacy. She also serves as Chair of the California Teachers Association (CTA) Early Childhood Education Committee, where she works to advance policies that support young learners and educators and as a member of CTA's Racial and Equity Affairs Committee, providing guidance on policies that promote equity and inclusion in education. Merrigan is a member of the Early Childhood Policy Council, advising on key issues affecting early childhood education at the state level. In addition, she serves on the Board of Directors for the National Education Association, helping shape national education priorities. She is deeply committed to ensuring that all children, especially the youngest learners, have access to high-quality education and that educators have the resources and support they need to succeed.
Al Muratsuchi
California Assemblymember, District 66
Al Muratsuchi represents the California State Assembly for the 66th Assembly District, located in the Los Angeles South Bay and Harbor Area. A champion for public education, Muratsuchi serves as Chair of the Assembly Education Committee and previously served as Chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Funding. He is fighting to transform public schools to promote student success and the well-being of every child, regardless of who they are and where they live. He is the lead author of Proposition 2, a $10 billion statewide school bond and also authored the California Freedom to Read Act to fight book bans at public libraries. The son of immigrants, Muratsuchi was born and raised on U.S. military bases overseas before arriving in California in 1982. The product of public schools and a first-generation college graduate, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, and earned a JD degree from UCLA before settling in the South Bay. Muratsuchi has dedicated his career to public service, working as a teacher, civil rights lawyer, and Deputy Attorney General with the California Department of Justice. Prior to serving in the California Legislature, he served on the Torrance Unified School District Board of Education and the Southern California Regional Occupational Center Board of Trustees. Muratsuchi lives in the South Bay with his wife Hiroko Higuchi, his daughter who attends a local public school, and their dog Teddy.
Diana Vu
Legislative Advocate, Association of California School Administrators
Diana Vu joined the Association of California School Administrators in 2020. She has worked in both the California Assembly and Senate in a variety of positions, including as policy consultant and legislative director. She has a broad range of experience with the California government having represented many parts of the state, including the Central Valley, the Bay Area, the Central Coast, and Southern California. Through this work, Vu has become skilled at navigating the complexities of the legislative process and the impact legislation can have on the varying regions of the state. Her most rewarding legislative accomplishment was the passage of AB 1995 (Chapter 407, Statutes of 2016), which requires community colleges to provide their students experiencing homelessness with access to shower facilities. In addition, Vu previously served as president of the Asian Pacific Islander Capitol Association (APICA). During her tenure, she strengthened and expanded APICA’s Capitol Internship program—doubling the number of college interns and establishing the first living wage internship program of any staff association. Vu currently serves on the APICA Advisory Board. She is a first-generation college graduate from California State University, Sacramento.
