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At the Harmony Montessori School in Gresham on Oct. 23, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek met with families and state child care leaders to promote her work to help the state reach universal preschool.
Kotek, who convened an expert panel on the topic in February, said she was prepared to receive the panel’s first set of recommendations in early November.
The line of inquiry, in Kotek’s words: “What is it about our current system of early learning programs that need adjustments so they can integrate better [and] work more seamlessly for our parents?”
The governor said it will take the state about four years to ramp up to universal preschool, and that she anticipates it will utilize a mixed delivery model, integrating the various programs into one system easier for families to navigate.
And Kotek said the state is learning a lot from an unexpected ally: Preschool for All. It’s a dramatic shift from last summer, when Kotek warned that the program, funded by a marginal income tax on higher earners in Multnomah County, was driving taxpayers out of the state and needed to increase its budget transparency.
On Oct. 23, Kotek said “we need to see expanded” programs like the county initiative. When Kotek came into WW’s offices earlier this month for an endorsement interview, she further clarified that any concerns she raised about Preschool for All were because the program was “so important to families and so transformative” that “it has to be sustainable and it has to be reaching the goals.”
Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson sounded a note of caution. “While this work is welcome,” she said, “I want to be very clear: It must not limit or undermine Multnomah County’s commitment to voters to deliver universal preschool and continue Preschool for All’s growth and success.”
