OSSS April Task Force Meeting Recap

The Oakland Starting Smart and Strong (OSSS) Task Force represents a diverse range of organizations and individuals from Oakland’s early childhood community. With over 100 members, these leaders review and discuss critical issues related to the well-being of young children, their families, caregivers and educators. 

Prior to the pandemic, OSSS often held in-person Task Force meetings on timely topics. On April 30th, we were pleased to bring these meetings back!

​More than 70 attendees learned about how Universal Transitional Kindergarten and Pre-Kindergarten, state policy decisions, the pandemic, and other critical factors have impacted Oakland’s early childhood ecosystem. Guest speakers from California Budget & Policy Center and Parent Voices Oakland shared insights from the state and local levels.

Laura Pryor, Research Director, and Eric Saucedo, Senior Policy Analyst, from California Budget & Policy Center shared how factors such as the cost of child care (slightly more than half of the median income in Alameda County) and the dedicated revenue for Transitional Kindergarten (TK) through the Prop 98 Guarantee have contributed to the expansion of TK. They also shared how the state is increasing ongoing funding for TK to accommodate the substantial growth in attendance from expansion and reduced teacher-to-child ratios. Their presentation can be found here. 

Maya Lawton, Master of Public Policy from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and OSSS Policy Intern, presented The Changing ECE Landscape in Oakland: An Assessment of Needs and Opportunities with OSSS Co-Director Page Tomblin. 

This presentation included an overview of current early care and education data gathered from diverse sources, including stakeholder input and quantitative data collection, as well as draft recommendations for action: strengthening advocacy for better funding, more coordination between OUSD and ECE providers, and investing in early intervention and special needs capacity. OSSS recently released more findings from this project which can be found here.

Alia Phelps, Director of Organizing at Parent Voices Oakland, affirmed that much of what they are hearing at the community level from families is a reflection of the broader issues shared during the event. Clarissa Doutherd, Executive Director of Parent Voices Oakland, spoke about the need for advocacy to ensure vital resources, like Head Start, continue to exist for parents and families with young children. 

Interested in joining our Policy & Advocacy Committee (or another OSSS committee)? Contact us at [email protected]. ​