Newsom budget adds child care slots, preschool access and bilingual teacher funding

California’s final 2026-27 budget expands early learning access with 22,700 more child care slots, broader state preschool eligibility and $10 million for bilingual teacher training. The plan also adds paid pregnancy leave, a child care rate adjustment and changes to education governance.

Why it matters: - California’s final 2026-27 budget adds child care and preschool capacity for families facing high costs, limited care options and workforce barriers. - The plan also invests in educators, including bilingual teacher training and paid pregnancy leave, which can help stabilize staffing in early learning and public education. - Expanded eligibility for state preschool could open doors for more 3- and 4-year-olds in communities with high poverty, foster youth or English learner populations.

What happened: - Governor Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders reached agreement on a final budget that Early Edge California says expands access to early learning and care. - The budget funds 22,700 additional child care slots. - The budget expands community eligibility for the California State Preschool Program. - The budget includes $10 million in one-time Proposition 98 funding for the Bilingual Teaching Pathways Program. - The budget also provides wildfire recovery support, extends paid pregnancy leave for school district and community college employees and restructures education governance.

The details: - The 22,700 child care slots include 20,700 Alternative Payment Program slots starting Oct. 1, 2026, and 2,070 General Child Care and Development slots starting April 1, 2027. - The budget gives subsidized child care providers a 2.01% cost-of-living adjustment through Cost of Care Plus rate supplements. - The budget requires child care payment-rate surveys every three years instead of every two years and allows an alternative methodology in place of a market rate survey. - The budget shifts non-LEA state preschool programs under Proposition 98. - The budget gives state preschool programs a 2.01% cost-of-living adjustment. - The budget expands CSPP site eligibility to programs operating within school site or school district boundaries with at least 80% of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals, foster youth or English learners. - The community eligibility rule also lets families who live or work within those boundaries enroll 3- or 4-year-old children in a CSPP operating there. - Children of local educational agency employees become eligible for state preschool under the budget. - State Preschool staff training time increases from two days to five days. - The budget clarifies that TK instruction must be developmentally appropriate. - The budget adopts a 4.31% “super” cost-of-living adjustment, up from 2.87%. - The budget provides up to 14 weeks of paid pregnancy disability leave to all employees, funded by the COLA. - The education governance overhaul transfers control of the California Department of Education from the elected Superintendent of Public Instruction to a newly appointed Education Commissioner and creates an Office of the SPI with staff.

Between the lines: - Early Edge California is framing the budget as a step toward lower child care costs, stronger workforce participation and better access for multilingual learners. - The bilingual teacher funding reflects a broader effort to build an educator workforce that better matches California’s multilingual student population. - The governance change could reshape how California oversees schools, and the group argues that early childhood systems could also benefit from less complexity and fewer administrative burdens.

What’s next: - Child care and preschool providers will begin operating under the new funding and eligibility rules on the budget’s timeline. - The Bilingual Teaching Pathways Program funding can support the pipeline for future bilingual educators. - Education governance changes will move forward as the state implements the new structure. - Early Edge California said it looks forward to building on Newsom’s education legacy under new state leadership.

The bottom line: - The budget makes a broad bet on early learning access, educator support and preschool expansion at a time when California families face pressure from rising costs and limited child care supply.