Preschool for All

Peninsula DSA demands free, high-quality early care and education for all children, and a living wage for our childcare workers and preschool teachers.

Our all-volunteer canvassing team at our canvassing launch in South San Francisco on January 16, 2022.

After Measure DD’s narrow loss at the ballot box in November 2022, Peninsula DSA is considering our next steps. We are still proud that the “opposition” (six Big Biotech companies) had to spend $500K+ on misleading advertisements and mailers in order to block our popular grassroots campaign. Measure DD supporters, South San Francisco preschool teachers, childcare providers, labor organizers, and community members are invited to contact our Steering Committee (info@peninsuladsa.org) to share ideas for future efforts to win Preschool for All.

Past Campaign

Preschool for All SSF (Yes on Measure DD)

Peninsula DSA’s Preschool for All working group spent two years organizing with preschool teachers, parents, childcare unions, and education experts to draft legislation, canvass our neighbors, and get out the vote for our Preschool for All South San Francisco campaign / Yes on Measure DD (see historic Facebook & Instagram pages).

If our citizens’ ballot measure had passed, it would have

  1. fully funded high-quality preschool to all children aged 2.5 to 5 years old whose families live or work in South City,
  2. provided a living wage ($36/hour) to all early care and education (ECE) workers, and
  3. paid for everything by levying a modest parcel tax ($2.50/sq ft) on South City’s largest commercial office properties (25,000+ sq ft), the vast majority of which are owned by multibillion-dollar biotech corporations.

South San Francisco’s affordable public preschool program was (and continues to be) immensely popular but underfunded, leaving hundreds of families on the waitlist. Meanwhile, the cost of private preschool has risen to $1800+ per month per child. Both public and private preschools and childcare centers in South City struggle to retain qualified workers because wages are so low (average $17/hour in 2022).

South City’s 2022 childcare master plan (CCMP) attempts to address these shortfalls but provided no funding source and no timeline for implementation. Measure DD would have secured more than $50 million in annual revenue, enough to pay preschool teachers and childcare workers a living wage and make high-quality early childhood education FREE for every family in South City.

The Measure DD campaign was endorsed by experts in the fields of childcare and education, including:

Other local leaders and organizations who endorsed Measure DD included:

Our coalition rallied at South San Francisco’s City Hall on June 3rd to celebrate turning in the 5800+ voter signatures our grassroots volunteers gathered from mid-January through May 2022.

Meetings

None currently scheduled

Working Group Co-chairs

Past co-chairs: Chet and Doniella

Contact

Email us at info@peninsuladsa.org with “Preschool for All” in the subject line

Past Wins

  • November 8, 2022 – Despite vicious, well-funded corporate opposition, Measure DD earned 47.24% of the vote in South San Francisco, only 971 votes short of winning universal preschool.
  • September 19, 2022 – The 4Cs (Child Care Coordinating Council) of San Mateo County endorses Measure DD! They join South City’s two child care unions, UDW / Child Care Providers United and AFSCME Local 829, in support of Preschool for All South San Francisco.
  • August 27, 2022 – Our citizens’ initiative for universal preschool makes the November ballot, kicking off the official campaign for Yes on Measure DD / Preschool for All South San Francisco. Press release
  • July 13, 2022 – The County of San Mateo certifies that our citizens’ initiative for universal preschool in SSF meets the required number of voter signatures to qualify for the November 2022 ballot in South City. Press release
  • June 3, 2022 – The campaign submits all petitions (5800+ voter signatures) in support of ECE 4 All SSF to South San Francisco City Hall. Press release
  • April 4, 2022 – Democratic Socialists of America endorses the ECE 4 All SSF campaign.
  • January 15, 2022 – The coalition kicks off the signature-gathering phase of the ECE 4 All SSF campaign with a rally at Westborough Park, South San Francisco. Press release