Toddler tax? Measure I puts public childcare funding before voters

The Our Kids Our Future campaign is pushing for the measure, which would raise an estimated $30 million for local child care and health services.

photo credit: Barnaby Watson/flickr
Children and instructors interacting in a preschool classroom.

There are 20 different local measures appearing on Sonoma County ballots for the November 5th general election.

Many of those are pretty specific to certain school districts or cities, meaning not everyone in the county will vote on them; but there are a handful of county-wide measures.

One aims to infuse millions into local childcare services.

The ballot measure is known by a few monikers: Our Kids Our Future , the Sonoma County Child Care & Children's Health Initiative, and the name you'll see on the ballot, Measure I.

Claudia Galliani is the campaign manager for Our Kids Our Future.

"There's a lot of attention around the executive election, but local ballot measures can make really meaningful change right at home," Galliani said. "So I hope people take the time to research their local ballot measures and vote yes on I."

The group worked to place a quarter-cent sales tax on the ballot this November to fund those child care services in Sonoma County.

Another member of the Our Kids Our Future campaign: Ananda Sweet, interim head of the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber of Commerce. Sweet said if passed, Measure I will generate about $30 million dollars a year for kids and families.

"It's broken into to buckets," Sweet said. "So 60% of that is focused on access to quality, early education and care, and then 40% on access to early childhood health and mental health."

Sweet said many child care advocates have been searching for reliable revenue streams for things like preschool for years. One source for childcare funding in California is 1998's Prop 10, the state’s tax on tobacco.

"People are smoking less, which is great, but then that funding mechanism is disappearing," Sweet said.

Sweet also noted that locally, preschool and young childcare options have become more expensive. In Santa Rosa, and Petaluma, the average cost for preschool is over $13,000 a year. That’s according to costs listed on the website Winne , where parents can search and sign up for preschools and daycare's in their area.

Sweet said options are also harder and harder to find.

"I would say it was magnified and elevated in the community after the Tubbs Fire in 2017 where we lost 500 childcare slots overnight," Sweet said. "That's just one portion of the impact, and that was of course [made] worse by the pandemic."

So what happens if Measure I passes? Galliani explained some of the mechanics.

"A community advisory council will be appointed by the county board of supervisors to develop policy and program recommendations," Galliani said. "So they will determine where the funds will be spent, and then it'll be distributed by First 5 of Sonoma County ."

Galliani said Measure I will address some of the major hurdles facing Sonoma County's preschool and early childhood education landscape head on.

"Our childcare and early childcare workers are struggling to make ends meet," Galliani said. "So we're going to tackle this issue from both ends, cost and availability, subsidizing salaries, and also in the language of the measure, they can use the money to build facilities to replace those actual physical spots for kids as well."

Measure I's wording focuses on ensuring low and middle income children, children struggling with homelessness, and children with major health issues have access to early childhood education and healthcare.

Sweet noted that, should Measure I pass, the First 5 Commission of Sonoma County will work in tandem with that advisory council Galliani referenced to distribute the new tax revenue.

"That advisory council is super critical," Sweet said. "You have the community expertise that's really critical, experts in parent[ing] and experts in early childhood health, early childhood, mental health, all those areas that we really need. But those recommendations will go to the First 5 Commission and together that will shape the framework for how the dollars are spent."

First 5 commissions, which exist in every California county in addition to a statewide one, focus on advocacy, support, programming, and education for young children from newborns to 5 year olds, and their families.

A big reason why Sweet, Galliani, and supporters like State Senator Mike McGuire, Supervisor James Gore, and other local politicians; and groups like the West County Health Centers and United Way of the Wine Country are supporting Measure I?

Sweet said it's the concerning findings on school readiness by Sonoma County’s First 5 Commission.

"About one in four Sonoma County children is ready for kindergarten," Sweet said. "Three out of four...aren't ready for kindergarten when they start kindergarten, and if they're not ready for kindergarten, we spend a ton on special education or mediation, just trying to catch them up."

Kindergarten readiness is determined from a variety of factors including social-emotional and academic markers; socio-political, economic, and environmental circumstances in children's lives.

Sweet pointed out the concerning clock that’s started when a child enters kindergarten unprepared.

"If kids aren't at third grade reading levels at third grade, for example, their graduation rates from that point, they almost never catch up with their peers," Sweet said. "If you can't do it by third grade, high school graduation rates plummet."

Long term studies have shown a wide range of benefits come downstream from quality early childhood education.

One study from the University of North Carolina even shows improved health markers among adults who’d received early education compared to those who had not.

The health, educational, and economic benefits for students are just a few reasons Galliani pointed to for the broad support Measure I is receiving in Sonoma County.

"It's a county tax that will get people back to work," Galliani said. "It's a county tax that will predominantly support women who make up the majority of early childcare and children's health workers; and of course, it'll help the women who are going back to work who need childcare in order to participate in the workforce."

Sweet said she feels the new tax will get the voters' okay this fall.

"It's a tremendous opportunity to make real meaningful investments and really make a difference in the lives of children and families here in Sonoma County," Sweet said. "Sales taxes are regressive, but in this case, it's committed through the language of the measure that this money will go back to those who really need it most."