Californians for Quality Early Learning

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Californians for Quality Early Learning

CQEL is a nonprofit membership-based organization advancing the profession of providing quality early learning education.

05/28/2026

When the largest school district in the country starts delivering infant and toddler care directly, what happens to the community providers who’ve been doing this work for decades? 👇

LAUSD just voted to double its 0–3 programs. Access matters, nobody’s arguing that. But the mechanism matters too. Public dollars flowing through the district aren’t flowing through the community-based centers already serving these families — and often serving them better.

Infants and toddlers aren’t tiny kindergartners. They need relationship-based, mixed-age, year-round care from teachers who know them by name. School districts are engineered for K–12... different schedules, different ratios, different developmental assumptions.

And this isn’t just an LA story. If it works here, other districts will copy the playbook. The shape of California’s mixed-delivery system is being decided right now, in real time, by what happens next.

Swipe through the breakdown. Then tell us: Where’s the line between a school district that complements your center and one that competes with it? What does the right partnership look like in your community?

05/27/2026

What if the state paid you what care actually costs? 👇

Not market rate. Not a survey of what private-pay families can stomach. The real number: staff, ratios, rent, food, professional development, the works.

That’s what AB 1981, the True Cost of Care Act, is trying to put on the table. It would replace the Regional Market Rate methodology with a cost-based model. Done well, it could fund the wages that keep your best teachers from leaving and the ratios that protect the children in your rooms.

Done poorly, it could route early learning dollars through Prop 98 in ways that change who controls them, who delivers care, and what counts as “quality” in the eyes of the state.

The methodology matters. The funding mechanism matters. The transition timing matters. And providers need to be at the table when those numbers are being built — not handed a rate sheet after the fact.

Swipe through. Then drop your answer below: If the state paid the true cost of care tomorrow, what’s the first thing you’d fix? Wages? Ratios? A reserve fund? Outdoor space? Subsidies for families on the cliff? Be specific. Your one-sentence answer becomes a data point we walk into rate-setting conversations with legislators and CDSS.

05/26/2026

California is debating whether to make kindergarten mandatory starting in 2028. 👇

If you run a center serving 4- and 5-year-olds, this one lands on your enrollment sheet first.

Supporters frame AB 1631 as a literacy fix. We hear that. But mandating the next step without funding the runway underneath is how community-based providers get squeezed, and we’ve already seen what TK expansion did to enrollment.

The children we serve aren’t a transition problem to solve. They’re a developmental moment to honor. Mixed-age, play-based, relationship-rich care isn’t a stepping stone to “real school,” it’s the foundation everything else gets built on.

Swipe through the breakdown. Then tell us in the comments: What would mandatory kindergarten mean for the families and children at your center?

05/18/2026

Join us this Wednesday for our May Lunch & Learn at noon: https://events.caqualityearlylearning.org/events/cqel/1982125

05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day to the women running California’s childcare centers, most of them with their savings, their family, and not nearly enough support.

We talk a lot about supporting women. Supporting mothers. Supporting small businesses. Private and community-based childcare is all three, and California is making it harder to survive, not easier.

These aren’t corporate chains. These are women-owned, mother-owned, generational businesses. Built by hand. Passed down. Rooted in neighborhoods that depend on them. And they’re being squeezed out.

When we let that happen, we’re not just losing childcare slots. We’re stripping women of their livelihoods. Their retirements. Their legacies. The thing they built so their own daughters would have something to inherit.

Quality early learning serves children, yes. But it also serves the mothers who built these programs from nothing, the teachers who show up every day for wages that don’t match the work, and every working parent who needs a safe place for their kid before 8 AM.

This Mother’s Day, CQEL stands with every director, provider, and educator fighting to keep their doors open. Your work is not invisible. Your legacy is not disposable. And your voice matters.

05/08/2026

Early childhood directors and educators spend their days regulating classrooms, supporting families, mentoring staff, and absorbing the emotional weight of every small crisis that walks through the door. It’s meaningful work, and it’s also exhausting. This session (during our Virtual Directors Institute on May 15th) is intentionally designed as a pause in the middle of a training day built entirely for you. Join YuFang Chien, M.A., ECSE, Director of Inclusive Early Childhood Education, as she walks us through some important strategies for you to be the best director you can be.

Save your spot today: https://buff.ly/dJQRKKn

05/07/2026

Gen Z is now the fastest-growing generation in your classrooms — and they don’t work, communicate, or grow the way previous generations did. In this practical session at our Virtual Directors Institute on May 15th, you’ll learn how to actually understand your Gen Z teachers: what they need from a manager, how they want feedback, and what makes them stay, leave, or step up. Walk away with a clear playbook for leading, retaining, and growing your next generation of ECE leaders.

Join us by signing up today: https://events.caqualityearlylearning.org/events/cqel/1981860

05/04/2026

We're about 2 weeks away from our VIRTUAL Directors Institute on May 15th, 8:45am - 12:30pm (PST). This convenient session is perfect for new and seasoned directors alike, with relevant topics such as learning how AI can help you with day-to-day tasks, strategies for managing your Gen Z staff, and, of course, the latest from Licensing. You do not want to miss out! Sign up today: https://buff.ly/AqtIhX7

04/25/2026

Some of our comments on upcoming Fire Code Changes that impact childcare centers across the state: We strongly urge that any Title 24 changes be evaluated not only for safety intent but also for their real-world impact on childcare availability. At a minimum, this includes ensuring feasible compliance pathways, flexibility for existing facilities, and alignment with how childcare programs actually operate. Without these considerations, the proposed changes risk worsening an already critical shortage of care.

04/19/2026

We are relaunching CQEL Childcare Consulting Services! These will consist of virtual sessions with Team CQEL for directors and owners who don’t have time, are frustrated and stuck, or just need the right expertise in the room.

Enrollment. Marketing. Social media. Behavior. Operations. Hiring. Free 15-minute match call. Two-hour minimum after that. No pressure, no pitch.

Schedule your call today: [email protected]

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Sacramento, CA

Website

http://www.caqualityearlylearning.org/

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