There’s at least one place in California where even households making six figures can get help paying for child care: San Francisco, the state’s most expensive county when it comes to child care.

As providers across the state await reforms for their financially fraught industry, voters in San Francisco have gone ahead and created their own solution: a commercial tax that now generates $180 million in revenue a year for local child care.

“Why did we go after a revenue source? Because that’s the only way we’re going to get ourselves out of this problem,” said Mary Ignatius, an organizer with Parent Voices, a group that advocates for affordable child care and campaigned for the commercial tax.

Child care — crucial for children’s well-being and necessary for many families to work — has long been a market failure in America.

The real cost of child care

California’s child care aid reaches only a small fraction of the families who need it, and it’s stretching providers to the limit. Education reporter Kristen Taketa examines how the system is falling short, and who pays the price.

The inherently high cost of quality care causes a chain reaction of challenges for both consumers and providers: Parents can’t access child care because it’s too expensive, especially for infants and toddlers. And because quality care costs more than what parents can pay, providers are in constant financial stress and unable to pay their staff much — which in turn limits how many children they can serve.

The San Francisco tax, narrowly approved by voters in 2018, is that rare example in California of a dedicated, permanent funding source intended to solve those problems.

In the first year of its rollout, the measure has paid for 1,000 more children to enroll in subsidized care, increased wages for 2,500 early education teachers and made 10,000 more children eligible for subsidized care on top of the 15,000 who were before.

“I’m hoping that if people see San Francisco can do it, then why not somewhere else?” said retired San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee, the main architect of the tax measure.

In 2018, after months of organizing from local officials, parents and child care workers, San Francisco voters passed the commercial tax with a measure dubbed “Baby Prop C” by a margin of less than one percentage point. A failed legal challenge by taxpayer and business groups delayed its implementation, but last year, funds collected under it began reaching the child care field in July.

As a result, families making up to 110 percent of San Francisco’s area median income — or up to $152,400 a year for a family of four — can now qualify for subsidized child care for their kids under age 4.

A child eats lunch on Pizza Friday at Baby Steps on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in San Francisco.

(Paul Kuroda / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Those income eligibility rules provide access to far more families than the state’s rules, which only allow subsidized care for families who make up to 85 percent of the state median income — or up to $95,289 annually for a similar family. Because it’s far more expensive to live in San Francisco than in California overall, some families who make even less than what it takes to get by there have not been able to qualify for state-subsidized care.

And unlike the state, which has required many families to chip in an income-based monthly fee toward their subsidized child care, San Francisco plans to charge no fees for city-funded care thanks to Proposition C funding, said Wei-min Wang, a director in the city’s early education department. That’s true even for moderate-income families who are newly eligible, he said.

“Now that we have Baby Prop C money, we don’t have to treat it like a scarce good we have to allocate and ration,” Wang said. “We don’t want high-quality early care and education to be so much a privilege as the right of every child, regardless of your background.”

Eventually, the city’s child care leaders expect to use Prop C to fund subsidized care for families making up to 200 percent of the area median income — as much as $277,100 for a family of four, according to current salary data. But the priority now is serving lower-income families, city officials said.

About half of Prop C revenue goes to expanding access to subsidized child care. But crucially, in an industry where low pay has often thwarted expansion of child care slots, the other half goes to pay raises for child care teachers, who in California are paid on average just $17 an hour. Many in San Francisco were making as little as $18 an hour — far shy of the $31 an hour it takes for a single person to get by there, according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator.

Prop C was designed not only to pay early educators a living wage, but to build a salary structure to put them on par with their counterparts in K-12 education, where starting pay is generally significantly higher and teachers are paid better the more higher education they have.

Prop C is working toward a new minimum wage of $28 an hour for early educators serving at least half low-income children by providing them semi-annual stipends or raising their hourly rates. Advocates expect that will not only improve current teachers’ quality of life but also help draw more quality applicants to the field and thus enable providers to serve more children.

Teacher Matthew Sullivan drapes a blanket over a child during nap time at Baby Steps on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in San Francisco, Calif.

(Paul Kuroda / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

It may be too early to judge Prop C’s success.

Still, San Francisco is further along than most of the state in advancing child care reforms. In 1991, San Francisco became what was believed to be the first city in the U.S. to establish a municipal fund exclusively for children’s services, including child care. Since 2004, it has worked toward establishing universal preschool, and since 2013 it has had a city office dedicated to early care and education.

And for more than a decade, the city has paid child care providers who serve low-income kids higher rates than what the state pays its subsidized care providers, knowing that the true cost of providing quality care has typically exceeded what the state pays.

“We now have this dedicated source of early childhood funding that is the first municipal source, where we can really draw from forever,” said Ingrid Mezquita, director of the city’s Department of Early Childhood, of Prop C. “It gives a level of stability that this sector hasn’t had in a very long time, or ever.”

The push for Prop C

Families shell out more for child care in San Francisco than in any other California county.

The vast majority of San Francisco families must pay as much as $2,700 a month — more than $32,000 a year — for full-time infant care, according to a 2021 statewide survey. That’s compared to a statewide average of about $1,600 a month.

Yet California’s income eligibility levels for subsidized care are set so low that many families can’t qualify for help paying for child care, and many families who make enough to get by in California are automatically disqualified from subsidized care because they make too much. In San Francisco, a family of four with two working parents needs to make $167,920 to get by, according to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, which is more than $72,000 above the state’s income limit for subsidized child care.

Meanwhile, there has not been enough public funding or child care providers in California to accommodate all the children who already do qualify for subsidized care. In San Francisco, more than 2,400 children were on the city’s waiting list for subsidized child care at the time Prop C was being proposed to voters.

There were other reasons to go after a child care tax measure, advocates said. For one thing, child care teachers in city-funded programs were seeing staff turnover rates of 75 percent, according to the early education department, which didn’t bode well for the quality of children’s education.

A child leaps during an outdoor activity next to San Francisco’s Stern Grove at Baby Steps on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022.

(Paul Kuroda / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Prop C was meant to be San Francisco’s answer to those problems.

The measure is largely the brainchild of Yee, the former board of supervisors president and a longtime child care and education advocate who had led one of San Francisco’s two child care referral agencies for 18 years before entering politics. He and fellow Supervisor Jane Kim led the effort to collect more than 9,400 voter signatures to put the initiative on the 2018 ballot.

Before, Yee and other advocates had to keep asking city leaders every year for one or two million or so dollars in the budget for child care. But those incremental, one-time amounts weren’t going to build a better child care system, which would require several reforms, he said.

Those reforms would need to address four areas, he said: giving more families access to subsidized care, expanding facilities to accommodate them, raising teachers’ pay and investing in their professional development to improve quality.

“Prop C is really a game-changer, because it provides the resources to do so many of the things that we wanted to do for our early education system,” Yee said in 2021, after Prop C survived the court challenge. “It gets us to close to universal child care access for everybody, including middle-income families, and it provides living wages for our early care educators.”

The real cost of child care

In this series, education reporter Kristen Taketa examines how California’s system of subsidized child care falls short — and who pays the price.

Before Prop C, commercial landlords in San Francisco generally paid a commercial rent tax rate of 0.3 percent.

Prop C now collects 3.5 percent from the rents of most commercial spaces and 1 percent from rents of warehouse spaces in San Francisco. Landlords paid less than $1 million annually in rental income and rents paid by government, nonprofit, arts and other tenants are exempt. Fifteen percent of the funds collected by Prop C goes to the city’s general fund, and the rest goes to child care.

It makes sense for large businesses to pay a tax for child care, advocates said, considering they possess some of the city’s greatest wealth and benefit from the availability of such care, since their employees need it to do their jobs. “Business is going to invest and support children in San Francisco so workers can go to work,” said Gina Fromer, CEO of the Children’s Council of San Francisco.

That was a key point supporters made during the 2018 campaign, volunteers said. Parents and providers held rallies, distributed flyers and did phone banking daily, targeting the people who would benefit most, said Maria Luz Torre, a Parent Voices organizer: women and low-income families.

“We even rallied at 555 California (Street). Trump is a co-owner of that building,” she said. “We rallied there to show these are the people who are paying for this, and not you.”

Isabel Daniels (left) and Pat Sullivan (right) run through activities with children at Baby Steps on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in San Francisco.

(Paul Kuroda / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Two months after Prop C passed, a coalition of landlord, business and taxpayer groups that had opposed the measure sued in an attempt to invalidate it. Those groups — the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, Building Owners and Managers Association of California, California Business Properties Association and California Business Roundtable — argued that Prop C actually needed a two-thirds majority to pass because a government official, Yee, had been heavily involved.

“Our issue had nothing to do with where the money was going, but rather that it was an illegal tax,” said Brooke Armour, vice president of the California Business Roundtable, in an email.

But in 2021, a state appeals judge sided with the city, saying that because the measure had been placed on the ballot as a voter initiative — and because Yee’s involvement did not change that — it needed only a simple majority to pass. Later that year, the state supreme court denied the plaintiffs’ request to review their appeal.

San Francisco is lucky, Luz Torre said, in that it has a wealthy tax base to draw from to fund child care. Other counties may have to get more creative, she said.

At least one other California county has also passed a tax to fund child care. In 2020, just across the San Francisco Bay, voters approved a half-percent sales tax in Alameda County to raise child care workers’ wages and offer more subsidized care slots, as well as fund pediatric health care.

That measure, Measure C, has been held up for more than two years by a similar lawsuit. Last July, a trial court judge ruled in the county’s favor. The decision is now being appealed.

Raising wages to raise quality

Prop C is not just about raising pay for teachers, child care leaders said. It’s about professionalizing and improving the quality of a field that has long been underpaid, has often been degraded as babysitting and has lacked greater access to higher education and training.

Teacher Sophia Lam (center) supervises an animal card game with children at Baby Steps on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in San Francisco.

(Paul Kuroda / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Many child care providers have faced obstacles to gaining higher education and professional development, such as language barriers and a lack of money and time. Thirteen percent of family child care providers in California speak only a language other than English, according to the UC Berkeley Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. About half of family child care providers and 20 percent of child care center teachers lack a college degree, according to the UC Berkeley center.

To address this, San Francisco officials have long made their child care funding contingent on providers meeting the city’s quality standards. They plan to use Prop C funds to improve early educators’ access to higher education and training. Some have suggested funding apprenticeships, tuition reimbursement and other programs to build a pipeline of workers that child care, unlike other education fields, has lacked.

The wage increases and stipends that come with Prop C are only available to teachers working for the 416 child care providers and agencies who have met the city’s quality standards and who are willing to serve low-income, subsidized children.

“That’s a foundational requirement for us, because part of the reason why we justify this investment in early childhood education is based on research that shows that high-quality care makes a big difference,” Wang said. “The goal of our department is to get all children to school readiness standards and to make sure that their families are able to have the resources necessary to raise their kids.”

Among those city-required quality standards: Providers must have low adult-to-student ratios, have a certain number of early childhood education college units, and use a developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate curriculum approved by the city early childhood department.

To be approved for city child care funding, providers must be visited by independent observers who look for quality interactions between teachers, note areas for improvement and decide whether the program passes a quality test.

Isabel Daniels (bottom) runs through activities with children at Baby Steps on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in San Francisco.

(Paul Kuroda / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The city department created a new standardized salary structure for early educators, similar to the kind that school districts make for K-12 teachers. The model rewards higher compensation to teachers who serve more subsidized children and who have more higher education or an early childhood teaching permit.

Stipends range from $8,000 annually for full-time assistant teachers who have few or no early childhood education units and serve fewer than 20 percent subsidized children to as high as $39,100 for family child care owners who serve at least 50 percent subsidized children.

By making the funding available only to providers willing to serve subsidized children and boosting pay for those who serve more of those children, the city means to focus Prop C funding on the highest-need programs first, Wang said.

That could also help incentivize more providers to serve low-income, subsidized children. Historically, providers say they have not had much financial incentive to do so, because the state’s subsidized payment rates have been low.

But as providers and advocates statewide have warned, just adding funding for more children to receive subsidized care doesn’t automatically mean more kids will be served. Child care providers have to expand their staffing and facility capacity to take in those additional kids, too.

So San Francisco is budgeting for $35 million of Prop C to be used for child care facilities projects next fiscal year, Wang said.

And the city department continues to encourage child care programs that are not enlisted in the city’s quality network to join. The department offers onsite coaching and funding to new members to improve their facilities and take professional development, Wang said.

There have been challenges in rolling out the Prop C funds.

For one thing, child care programs are still seeing under-enrollment, Wang said. That could be due to parents’ anxiety about spreading sickness, be it flu, RSV or COVID-19. Some families choose to stay with their kids at home or have relatives, friends or neighbors watch them, while others take them to private programs. And child care programs are facing growing competition from public schools, as more children enroll in free transitional kindergarten.

Some programs are also still struggling to hire enough staff. But Wang has heard anecdotally for the first time that they are seeing higher interest and better-qualified applicants for jobs after Prop C. “Staffing is always an issue, but with the wage improvements, it’ll hopefully be less of an issue,” he said.

Owner Pat Sullivan (middle) supervises a card game with children at Baby Steps on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in San Francisco.

(Paul Kuroda / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The pay increases have already helped Pat Sullivan, a family child care provider of 30 years who owns the Baby Steps Nature School.

Like many family providers who run small child cares out of their own homes, Sullivan had not been able to pay herself from her business. And since providers can’t charge families more than they can afford to pay — which is far less than the true cost of providing quality care — she was barely breaking even.

To get by, many family providers depend on a spouse’s income. Without one, Sullivan has worked two other jobs on nights and weekends, too, teaching at local colleges. She had been working as much as 80 hours a week between all three.

Prop C changed that.

She was recently able to hire one new full-time teacher and two part-time teachers. She can now pay her teachers $28 an hour, she said, when she previously struggled to pay them $20 an hour.

Now Sullivan has some more time to run her business, rather than just teach children. She still works a lot — but “not the same way, not with the desperation I used to work with,” she said. She’s down to 60-hour weeks.

And finally, Sullivan earns an income from her business.

This story was produced as part of the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2022 National Fellowship.

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The new department is aiming to unify these resources and services. “Family [will] have access to the information that they need, not only around what’s available in their neighborhood or in the area that they’re looking for, but also what financing is available for their child care,” she said. This will allow families to see whether they are eligible for federal, state or local funding.

How will this new department work to ensure equity in the kinds of families that it serves?

“Our focus is always going to be families who are in greatest need,” Mezquita said. “We want to make sure that the services and supports are meaningful.”

Mezquita said their goal is to reduce or eliminate racial disparities. “We’re in this unique position where not only are we going to be funding child care, but we’re also looking at children in a holistic way,” she said. She said this will include looking at comprehensive services and ensuring there are no gaps or missing links to support children and their families.

When are you expecting expanded services to be available to families?

“We were just approved as a new department, so we’re building that infrastructure,” said Mezquita. “We’ve already expanded eligibility for families who are making up to 110% of area median income, meaning that if you’re making roughly around $120,000 or below, you may be eligible for child care financing through our department.”

How will families benefit from the merging of two separate departments?

Mezquita said the information will soon be in a centralized place, and the department will be able to provide families information in multiple languages, “not only for their child care, but also for their child’s well-being,” she added. “San Francisco has an array of services and supports for families. And one of the most difficult thing has been being able to find them.”

When can San Francisco families access the information?

Mezquita said she’s hoping it will be accessible in the next few months. “We already have a portal, which is where families can find child care: Early Learning San Francisco. You can easily find child care in your area. You can see what you’re eligible for in case you’re eligible for any financial assistance .”

How do I access the California State Preschool Program?

If your family is seeking access to the California State Preschool Program, you’re automatically eligible for the early education program if you’re already enrolled in Medi-Cal, CalFresh, WIC or Head Start.

Once your child is enrolled, the new law guarantees two years of care and education. Previously, families were granted only 12 months of service and had to reapply for an extension.

Where can I find affordable, quality child care elsewhere in California?

A new state-funded website helps match families struggling to find affordable, quality care with providers. Mychildcareplan.org launched on October 11, and lists every licensed provider in California and their safety record, including their history of inspections and any citations they may have received; their vacancies; the type of care they provide; and the language(s) spoken at their center.

The new website consolidates information from each of the state’s 58 local child care resource and referral agencies, connecting families to child care, financial aid and other services. It also aims to better serve parents and caregivers who may work in one county but live in another.

“You can enter your ZIP code, you could enter the city, and then it does radial search depending on … your filters,” said Linda Asato of the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network. “You’re no longer just bound by the information at that one agency.”

The website is free and does not charge a subscription fee for parents or providers. It can be used in English, Spanish, traditional Chinese and Vietnamese.

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South San Francisco’s Measure DD addresses the need for universal early child care for families who live or work in the city by imposing an annual tax on large commercial offices generating approximately $55.9 million annually.

If the measure passes, it will have 18 months until it goes into effect. Funds will be accrued from commercial offices larger than 25,000 square feet at a rate of $2.50 per square foot of parcel size.

Proponents, including Councilmember James Coleman and Margaret Brodkin, founder and director Funding the Next Generation, who helped gather signatures, have billed the measure as a way to address gaps in existing subsidized child care while affecting primarily the city’s wealthiest companies.

However, opponent for the measure, Julie Waters, director for Local Government and Community Relations, California Life Sciences, and Vice Mayor Buenaflor Nicolas, who represents the viewpoint of the City Council majority, explains that it isn’t that simple.

“A lot of the companies have child care plans that exist, we work in collaboration with the city. I don’t know what benefits there are that I truly recognize and it’s not related to the tax burden,” Waters said. “It’s the fact that most of the tenants in South San Francisco, you know despite the big shiny names, are actually renters, they are owned by the development company and they have in their leases that they will pass the new tax along to those tenants .”

There are more than 120 small businesses — including startups — that are members of the California Life Sciences group, Waters said.

“These startups aren’t making any money yet, they employ five to 10 employees and their position is to take their lab and leave,” she said.

Still, Coleman explained the city’s popular preschool program, run by the Parks and Recreation Department, has a waitlist of more than 700 long families, which equates to about four years. This forces families to either not have child care and stay at home with their children or pay for child care they may not be able to afford, Coleman said.

However, Nicolas is concerned the plan doesn’t look at child care holistically.

“Money is just a tool and without the proper plan and infrastructure behind it nothing really will be done because failing to plan it is planning to fail,” Nicolas said.

The city’s study found that revenue produced — estimated at $55.9 million in the first year, rising to $68.2 million in coming years as projects in the development pipeline are completed — would not initially be enough to provide the programming given current demand, however, the gap could be closed over time.

To provide for the 1,462 children expected to seek the service initially, it would cost north of $61 million annually, the study indicates $23.9 million for residents and $19.6 million for nonresidents. The other $17.5 million would go to increasing child care worker pay by 10%, something for which the measure also calls for.

Average monthly costs for early child care in the city are currently $1,341 per month, according to the report.

“The cost of preschool and day care right now is exorbitantly expensive, my husband and I are lucky enough to afford to pay but once our daughter goes into care we will be paying more for child care than our mortgage, and more for child care than our UC tuitions when we were in college,” resident Natalie Wheatfall Lum said.

The city of South San Francisco will cover all the costs of preschool and early care, without means testing, which means families with significant means can still participate in the free child care service.

Coleman argues that the rationale behind the lack of means testing for the measure is because a more educated society is a better society.

“If you are extremely wealthy, you can choose your own private school or your own nanny but the idea is the same resources are available to everyone,” Coleman said.

If the funds can’t cover everybody, there will be a system of means testing implemented by the city and administrative body guaranteeing that people of lower income families are prioritized, he added.

“In addition to this there’s another problem, our preschool teachers not making anywhere near a living wage, that would allow them to live in South San Francisco, currently they make around $17 per hour and just for comparison kindergarten teachers make $46 per hour,” said Coleman.

Adding to this issue is low working wages and higher turnover rate has made it difficult for preschool teachers to gain an expertise in the trade, he added.

The service will be provided for every child aged 2.5 to 5 years old whose family lives or works in the city, according to the Yes on DD website.

However, Nicolas said with $56 million they will not be able to provide the child care needs of the city.

“Child care is very much in the center of our universe and as you can see it is part of our general plan,” Nicolas said. “We are the only city in San Mateo County to come up with a child care master plan.”

The city’s child master plan found the need for operational support for child care programs. She argues that child care is not needed only from the ages of 2 1/2 to 5 but from childbirth to 12 years old. In addition, she said non-traditional child care is needed for people who work graveyard shifts or nurses.

“Ours [child master plan] is a very comprehensive plan. We need operational support for these programs, we know how to stabilize and secure facilities and we are looking for the financial resources to help the families pay for this child care,” Nicolas said. “And also most importantly is the solution to the staffing shortage.”

Nicolas said she doesn’t want to be the guinea pig or the first to fail at universal citywide child care.

Brodkin, of Funding the Next Generation, argues that the city officials will love the child care program.

“It will put South San Francisco on a map like nothing else they have ever done, people will want to stay there, people will want to live there,” Brodkin said. “It will be one of the most exciting things that’s happened in the children’s field.”

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South San Francisco voted in favor of affordable public housing with Measure AA leading with 4,371 votes, or 57.5%, while Measure DD, a new tax on large businesses to fund child care for all children between 2 1/2 and 5 for residents and employees is falling short with 3,338 votes in favor, or 43.61%, according to semiofficial results as of 11 pm Tuesday by the San Mateo County Elections Office.

If the election results hold, Measure AA in South San Francisco authorizes the city to acquire, develop or construct low-rent housing, up to 1% of the total number of existing units, annually for eight years. The city will be able to use its $120 million in a special housing fund from commercial linkage fees to build 1% of the total number of existing housing units in the city. That equates to approximately 250 units per year, totaling around 2,000 units in the next eight years. The measure would override Article 34, a 70-year-old state law that states additional affordable housing units can only be built with public funds if passed through a voter initiative.

Councilmember James Coleman believes Measure AA passing is a good sign for an eventual statewide repeat of Article 34.

“The results are very clear that the residents want to see affordable housing and city-owned affordable housing or mixed-income social housing and now it’s up to our city leaders to deliver what the residents want,” Coleman said, adding that it gives the city ​​more tools on the tool belt when it comes to building more affordable housing faster.

“Over $100 million in impact fees for city-owned affordable housing. I’m looking forward to seeing ways in which that could happen,” he said.

South San Francisco’s Measure DD sought to provide universal early child care for families who live or work in the city by imposing an annual tax on large commercial offices generating approximately $55.9 million annually.

In other elections, the cities of San Mateo, Burlingame and Millbrae appeared to pass a series of tax measures, while Redwood City voters appeared to agree to tweak the city’s charter to allow the mayor to serve one-year terms so more councilmembers could serve while San Bruno seemed to limit terms of its City Council and separately elected mayor, according to the semiofficial results.

Belmont and Millbrae both proposed a transient occupancy tax, both of which are appearing to pass. Measure K in Belmont needed only a majority to pass and has 3,205 votes, or 78.98%. If it holds up, the measure approves a 14% tax to hotel guests in the city that is estimated to raise $600,000 annually, that will cover a budget shortfall, and will be a continuous tax until ended by voters. Measure N in Millbrae has a commanding lead of 2,660 votes, or 78.93% and will look to raise the occupancy tax for hotel guests from 12% to 14%, generating approximately $1.5 million annually to locally controlled funds to address service including funding for police and fire departments.

Burlingame appears to have passed a measure taxing marijuana delivery companies and are raising business license fees with 3,620 votes, or 75.42%, according to the semiofficial results.

Measure X would tax 5% of gross marijuana sales, generating $2 million to $4 million a year. Business license fees would increase from $100 for all Burlingame businesses to $200 to $750, based on a tiered annual income, with only 7% of Burlingame businesses having to pay the higher amount if they gross more than 1$ million or more. It would generate about $2.5 million annually and would provide revenue relief for the city that lost $20 million in transient occupancy taxes from its hotels during the pandemic.

Measures P and Z in Redwood City amends the charter for the city to shorten the term of mayor from two years to one allowing more councilmembers to serve as mayor, and aligns the city charter with the state law. Both appear to have overwhelming leads of 6,292 votes, or 62.95%, and 8,450 votes, or 85.76%, respectively, according to the semiofficial results as of 11 pm on Tuesday by the San Mateo County Elections Office.

Measure BB in San Bruno has a commanding lead with 4,690 votes, or 82.72%. It limits the terms of the City Council and separately elected mayor to no more than 12 consecutive years, according to the semiofficial results.

Measure CC holds a commanding lead with 9,655 votes, or 71.84%, in San Mateo and looks to increase the property transfer tax in San Mateo from .5% to 1.5% for sales more than $10 million. The transfer tax is expected to generate about $4.8 million, and the city said the funds would be used for street repairs, park improvements, emergency services and reducing traffic congestion. It would affect less than 1% of all properties sold or transferred in the city.

All results are according to semiofficial results from Tuesday, Nov. 8, which included votes by mail received by Friday, Nov. 4, and all ballots received at voting centers. Later results will include votes received after Saturday, Nov. 5. Post-election results will be released before 4:30 pm on Thursday, Nov. 10, Friday, Nov. 11, Monday, Nov. 14, Tuesday, Nov. 15, Wednesday, Nov. 16, Thursday, Nov. 17, Friday, Nov. 18, Monday, Nov. 21 and Wednesday, Nov. 23. Results will be certified Dec. 8th.

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With a ballooning budget for child care services, South San Francisco officials last week adopted a comprehensive plan for how they intend to ramp up subsidies to provide day care, transitional kindergarten, after school care and other services to aid working parents.

In addition to state and federal funds, the city has more than $11 million of its own money for the effort, and expects millions more in coming years as a result of fees paid by developers building in the city. Since 2001, the city has been charging the fees, which have been used to construct two child care facilities, update playground facilities and provide grants to child care providers.

“South San Francisco was the first city in San Mateo County to implement child care development fees … and we are, yes, the first city in San Mateo County to complete a child care master plan,” Kathleen White, a consultant who prepared the document , said.

The plan outlines a wide range of goals, but key among them is addressing local staffing shortages in the industry, which are currently preventing expansion of the city’s efforts regardless of funding, according to the report.

“The shortfall in this early childhood education sector is actually preventing growth for programs whether you have facilities or rooms or the funding,” White said. “We had a workforce problem before COVID. COVID exacerbated this workforce problem, and now we’ve got quite a bit of new money coming in for expansion, so it’s kind of a perfect storm for a workforce shortfall.”

The document attributes the shortage to the county’s high cost of living combined with health concerns amid the pandemic. It recommends expanding the local pipeline to the industry, and sets out a “realistic and achievable goal” of at least 10% of high school graduates in the city to pursue local education paths. Workforce development and increasing pay in the industry are also noted as solutions.

Another key goal is continuing to use city funds to build child care facilities as well as coax developers to include them in new buildings as a community benefit.

“While we do have impact fees right now, we really need more developer participation around providing facilities and space,” White said. “There are a lot of cranes up in South San Francisco, really every crane should represent a child care opportunity.”

Other recommendations include expanding subsidies for infant preschool spaces, expand transitional kindergarten, close gaps in preschool service to neighborhoods west of El Camino Real and support the South San Francisco Unified School District in obtaining child care funding.

According to plan, there are approximately 9,500 families in the city with children aged 12 and under or that are expecting children in the next year. The city conducted a survey of 1,111 people, targeting residents in that group.

It found 85% of responders worked full time, and 74% reported child care costs as an issue. After-school child care was reported as the most difficult type of child care to find by 54% of respondents.

Additionally, the plan cites a national survey conducted by the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation in 2021 that found 75% of working parents had young children staying home with a parent during work hours amid the pandemic, and 50% of parents that had not yet returned to the workforce following said child care was the reason why.

“This is a very personal issue … I probably wouldn’t be able to live here if it weren’t for the subsidized child care that we provide,” said Mayor Mark Nagales, who said he had seen child care cost in the city for as much as $2,400 per month for three-day-a-week care for a toddler.

“That’s basically a rent payment,” he said. “I have two kids that use the [city’s] child care, I pay $700 per month… It’s helped me and my family tremendously.”

Vice Mayor Buenaflor Nicolas said child care was also a gender equity issue, as the task often falls on women, which can prevent them from entering the workforce.

“If we really do believe children are the future of our city, child care should be one of our priorities,” she said.

The child care plan is intended for use through 2030, and is part of the city’s general plan, which is in the process of a comprehensive overhaul. White emphasized the need for City Council action to implement identified policies.

“To me this plan is a starting point, there’s a lot of ideas here, a lot of recommendations. … The next steps are going to be determined by city leaders,” White said. “My only caution is that 2030 is right around the corner, so I wouldn’t delay.”

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PLEASANT HILL (CBS SF/BCN) — A woman wanted on kidnapping charges in Solano County was arrested Wednesday after an armed standoff with Pleasant Hill police, authorities said.

Frances Clausell, 31, was being held on the kidnapping warrant and the knife attack in the Martinez Detention Facility on Thursday.

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Officers responded about 5:13 pm Wednesday to reports of a domestic dispute in a home in the 1800 block of Oak Park Boulevard. Upon arrival, the officers discovered a woman bleeding from a knife wound to the hand and Clausell armed with the knife and barricaded in the home with a 2-year-old child.

A member of the police department’s Crisis Intervention Team arrived at the scene and established a line of communication with Clausell, who refused to exit the home and to release the child.

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At the same time, officers discovered Clausell was wanted on kidnapping charges involving the same child. Police have not released information on the relationship between the child and woman or a motive.

In the Solano County incident, police said, Clausell had threatened to end his own life and the child’s.

As SWAT teams were assembling in response, the police officer in communication with Clausell talked her into surrendering and she was taken into custody without incident.

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The child was unharmed and placed in the care of child services. The stabbing victim was treated at a local hospital for her wounds and expected to recover.

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The San Francisco Department of Health quietly updated its mask guidelines for children ages 2 to 9 years old on Wednesday.

The change was first noticed after a health department spokesman reached out to SFGATE regarding a comment that was made on Wednesday, “San Francisco should be like Europe when it comes to COVID, kids, masks and schools.” submitted by 41 Bay Area parents and residents included the line: “It is incredibly illogical that the SFDPH does not require face coverings for children under 10 years of age in public buildings, but does require care and attention for children aged 2 and over School environments where learning and socialization are key components, “and linked to the San Francisco mask guide page.

When three different SFGATE editors checked that line in the comment for fact on the Tuesday prior to publication, the city’s guidelines for children stated that children ages 2 to 9 must wear masks in facilities like schools or kindergartens, but only that children over 10 must wear masks in public buildings as shown in this copy of the page taken by the Wayback Machine in September:

The version of San Francisco’s children’s mask guide accessed by SFGATE editors on Tuesday.

San Francisco Department of Public Health

But on Thursday an SFDPH spokesman wrote in an email to SFGATE: “The comment incorrectly states that children under 10 are not required to wear masks in public buildings such as grocery stores and restaurants Years wear masks in these settings “and provided a link to the same mask page that now read that children aged 2 and over must wear masks in public buildings. The SFDPH said the change was made on Wednesday. The SFGATE-Op-ed was released at 4 a.m. that morning.

The current version of the San Francisco Mask Instructions for Children.

San Francisco Department of Public Health

From the original version, the line that says that children between the ages of 2 and 9 are only allowed to wear face covers outside of schools and childcare facilities “if they can” has disappeared. In addition, there is the requirement that “children aged 2 and over must wear face coverings indoors in public buildings” – which apparently represents a major change in the city’s masking rules.

When SFGATE asked SFDPH when and why this change took place, a spokesman pointed out the text of the city’s official health ordinance, which states, “Children between the ages of two and nine must be in situations where there is is possible to wear well-fitting masks “. Masks are compulsory for everyone, such as grocery stores and restaurants.

However, “as much as possible” reflects the original “if they can” language rather than the update “Must wear face coverings in public buildings”.

The SFDPH spokesman said the mask instructions page – unlike the city’s official health ordinance – “should be easily accessible to a wide public audience” and “since the language seemed to be confusing, we cleared it up.”

When asked by SFGATE whether the language in the official health ordinance would also be tightened to reflect the new language on the guidance page, the ministry said the “largely feasible” language only applies to “well-fitting masks” within the meaning of the ordinance , and that in indoor public spaces there has always been a mask requirement for children between the ages of 2 and 9, if you read between the lines of the health ordinance.

“Children ages two to nine may be an alternative type of face-covering to a well-fitting mask if their parents or caregivers believe it improves the child’s ability to adhere to this arrangement,” said a statement from the Department. “One such alternative is still a face covering, and it is still needed. An example of an alternative face covering is a face shield with a drapery on the lower edge. To recap, the health ordinance always required face covering for children ages two to nine years old in indoor public spaces. Children of this age should wear a well-fitting mask as much as possible. If this is not possible in certain situations, the child must still wear a different type of face covering. “

The mask instructions page has never – and still – made no distinction between “well-fitting masks” and masking alternatives for children, but the page says in a section below for everyone: “If you are not using a medical mask or cloth mask, other options” and “You must still wear something over your nose and mouth to block droplets, such as a 2-layer gaiter.”

The health ordinance itself does not require that face covering be worn when well-fitting masks are not possible; it contains only the line in the SFDPH statement that “Children may wear alternative face-covering if their parents or caregivers believe that this will improve the child’s ability to comply with this order.”

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A family from Northern California was found dead after a 12 hour search by local sheriffs.

John Gerrish, Ellen Chung and their one-year-old daughter Miju – as well as their family dog ​​- were found dead in the Devil’s Gulch area on the south fork of the Merced River in the Sierra National Forest, the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office reported.

The cause of death of the family remains unclear, as the sheriff’s office reports that “current scene information does not provide a clear picture” of the events.

The California Department of Justice and the sheriff’s clerk are investigating her death. Her death will be treated as a Hazmat and Coroner investigation.

The couple were first reported missing by a family friend late Monday evening, and their last correspondence was a photo of a baby backpack sent early Sunday morning in Fresno, according to KMPH.

Their vehicle, a Ford truck, was found near the gate of the Sierra National Forest that leads to Hites Cove, the sheriff’s office said.

Mariposa County MP Kristie Mitchell told the Fresno Bee that their bodies were found in a drastically remote area, far enough away that officials “had to wander out to get a satellite phone connection.”

According to KMPH in Fresno, the family originally came from San Francisco before moving to Mariposa, a small town near Yosemite National Park.

“This is never the result we want or the news we want to deliver, my heart breaks for your family,” Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese said in a statement. Our sheriff’s chaplains and staff work with their families and will continue to support them in this heartbreaking time. ”

The post Former San Francisco couple and one-year-old little one discovered useless in Sierra Nationwide Forest appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

The state Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for San Francisco to pay for additional childcare and early education services with commercial rental taxes approved by 51% of the city’s electorate in June 2018.

The move, Proposition C, was an electoral initiative aimed at raising $ 146 million a year, primarily to fund childcare and education for children under 6 years of age. It has been challenged in court by anti-tax advocates who argued that electoral action to raise local taxes requires approval from two-thirds of voters.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, named after the 1978 California tax cut sponsor Prop. 13, relied on a subsequent government initiative, Prop. 218 of 1996, which required two-thirds of voters approval for each of a. the proposed tax increase required local government to fund specific programs.

But California appeals courts recently ruled that the two-thirds requirement does not apply to actions taken by signing initiative motions on local ballot papers, as they are actions of voters, not local governments. That was the conclusion reached by the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco last June when it upheld another city-wide initiative, a November 2018 move to increase corporate taxes to fund programs for the homeless. Another chamber of the court issued a similar judgment in January and upheld Prop. C of June 2018.

The power of initiative is “one of the most valuable rights of our democratic process” and must be interpreted broadly, said appellate judge Mark Simons in a 3-0 judgment, citing the earlier decision. He said the two-thirds majority of Prop. 218 only applies to measures that are decided by a city council, a supervisory body or a school board and presented to the electorate.

The Jarvis Association appealed to the state Supreme Court, which unanimously denied review on Wednesday. The court also denied review of the earlier appeal decision that allowed San Francisco to fund homeless programs with $ 250 million to $ 300 million a year in new taxes on gross income from companies with annual sales in excess of $ 50 million.

The June 2018 vote included a 3.5% tax on business income from leasing commercial space and a 1% tax on leasing warehouse space, excluding companies that receive up to $ 1 million in rental income annually .

In response to the verdict, City Attorney Dennis Herrera said, “San Francisco voters have the right to direct democracy and self-government. This cements our victory and ensures long-term help for working families. “

Jarvis Association attorney Laura Dougherty said the court had falsely allowed “another loophole” in the nationwide vote to curb tax increases. As a result, she said, “If politicians simply copy and paste a government tax proposal into a citizens’ initiative, they can dramatically reduce the voter approval required for enforcement.”

Although the state’s Supreme Court did not make a decision of its own as to whether Prop. 218 applies to initiatives, the court interpreted the measure narrowly in one 2017 case. In determining that a Southern California city’s tax initiative was not covered by any other provision of Prop. 218 that required special elections for local tax measures, the Supreme Court said that neither the text nor the context of Prop. 218 “supports the conclusion, that the term “local government” should encompass the electorate. “

Jonathan Coupal, president of the Jarvis Association, said his organization is ready to support another referendum effort that requires approval from two-thirds of voters for any increase in local taxes for specific purposes.

The case is Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association vs. San Francisco, S267516.

Bob Egelko is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko

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Below is a list of the best and leading childcare facilities in San Francisco. To help you find the best childcare near you in San Francisco, we’ve compiled our own list based on this list of ratings.

San Francisco’s Best Child Care:

The top rated childcare facilities in San Francisco are:

• Children of Fortune Family Day Care San Francisco – prides itself on providing a caring and safe environment for your children
• Apple tree day care – Located in the center of downtown San Francisco, your daycare center is perfectly located for easy pick up and drop off
• Modern education family childcare – focuses on caring for infants and young children
• Bright horizons at 221 Main – goes on what a traditional day care center would offer
• Bernal infant and child care – is licensed with the Community Care Licensing of the US state California

Children of Fortune Family Day Care San Francisco

Children of Fortune Family Day Care San Francisco prides itself on providing a caring and safe environment for your children. By following their mission, vision and values, they create a nurturing, stimulating and welcoming learning environment for all children. They give their students the tools they need for future happiness and success.

Their extraordinary plans incorporate a variety of educational ideas, always keeping the best interests of the child in mind and enabling hands-on, experiential learning. Glückskinder’s educational programs have been designed with the needs of their children in mind in order to mature and develop in a safe, yet stimulating environment.

You have a German and an English teacher in the day care center. Their program was perfect for many families. They provide a playful atmosphere as well as morning circles of music, crafts, science activities, walks to playgrounds, reading activities, and naps.

Products:

Bilingual concept German / American, program & activities

LOCATION:

Address: 675 Lakeview Ave, San Francisco, CA 94112
Phone: (415) 574-6745
Website: www.glueckskindersf.com

REVIEWS:

“Our child has been here for 8 months and is now over a year old and is thriving at Glückskinder. We absolutely love her! I couldn’t imagine my little one in better hands. They are real professionals and give the kids the best of everything – homemade food, high quality diapers (included) and no plastic toys – all wood. My little one jumps into their arms in the morning with a big smile when she falls off. “- Maggie Watson E.

Apple tree day care

Apple tree day care Located in the center of downtown San Francisco, the daycare is perfectly located for easy drop-off and pick-up and daily adventures in playgrounds. They are fully equipped with cots and sleeping mats for lunchtime and have created a comfortable reading corner in which you can spend a quiet time with your books. A small, secure outdoor area for the preschool offers them the opportunity to enjoy fresh air as well as sand and water games at any time.

In the in-house kitchen, they cook all of their healthy breakfasts, lunches and snacks from scratch. Their caring, experienced, and Mandarin-speaking staff focus every day on making sure all children are happy, healthy, loved, and challenged. All team members have at least two years of childcare experience and have completed their in-house childcare training to ensure consistent standards of commitment, care and respect. Each member of his team speaks fluent and of course Mandarin, many of whom are parents themselves.

Products:

Curriculum, meals, day care

LOCATION:

Address: 85 Columbia Square, San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: (415) 695-4726
Website: www.appletreesf.org

REVIEWS:

“I will miss bringing my son here. The staff here really care and love children in their care. Jasmine and her team are miracle workers and I was very happy to entrust my most precious asset to their care. She made my life very easy for me while I am not going because she offers breakfast, lunch and snacks to the kids. My son learned to speak Mandarin here! “- Stephen T.

Modern education family childcare

Modern education family childcare focuses on caring for children and toddlers aged 3 months to 4 years. They work with families from all walks of life to create meaningful learning experiences for each individual through games and developmental activities. Modern Education Family childcare offers children the best possible early childhood education in their safe and healthy environment, as well as the latest knowledge and support for parents to raise their children in friendly and happy childcare.

They are run independently from their family members. Each location mainly offers care for children between the ages of 3 months and 5 years. People often wonder why they choose to be family child carers. One of the main reasons is that they love their family. They want to give the best to their own families. As family child carers, you can enjoy the flexibility and take care of the families.

Products:

Infant program, toddler program and transition program

LOCATION:

Address: 35 Victoria St, San Francisco, CA 94132
Phone: (415) 812-0172
Website: www.daycaresf.com

REVIEWS:

“I have a two-year-old boy who is almost three years old who has been cared for here since March 2012. Before he came here, he was in another daycare center and was very traumatized by the abuse there. After being here for such a short time, he’s more sociable and no longer afraid of going to daycare. I can only recommend this place to all those who want their child to be in a safe and healthy environment. You will feel good if you leave your child here. By the way, this place is super clean with bright natural lights. “- Victoria

Bright horizons at 221 Main

Bright horizons at 221 Main is dedicated to the 100% accreditation of the National Association for the Education of Young Children for all eligible daycare and preschools. Bright Horizons goes further than what a traditional daycare would provide to lay a solid foundation for success in school and life. At Bright Horizons, the safety of children, families and employees has always been paramount.

Their market-leading formalities are based on expert guidance designed to support your child’s health while ensuring a positive environment in which children can be children. Her curriculum for the world at your fingertips includes an arts program that stimulates creativity, a language program that stimulates interest in reading, a science program that stimulates curiosity, and much more. There is always something new to discover. The right location, schedules for your busy work day, and an open house policy make it easy to get involved.

Products:

Toddlers, toddlers / twos, preschool, kindergarten preparation

LOCATION:

Address: 221 Main St, San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: (415) 400-0103
Website: www.child-care-preschool.brighthorizons.com

REVIEWS:

“This is a beautiful center!” – Monique MN

Bernal infant and child care

Bernal infant and child care is licensed with the Community Care Licensing of the US state California. At Bernal Infant and Child Care, they engage young and strong minds by celebrating diversity and promoting creative play. Social skills come naturally with learning side by side with friends. They play, paint, sing and share. Through their interaction with others, children create an awareness of themselves and their place in the world.

Good food helps to strengthen the body and mind. Her goal for her program is to provide your child with a safe and caring home away from home. They offer very healthy meals and snacks every day. Your meals are prepared with love and each meal is a great opportunity to learn about food, manners, and socialization.

Products:

6 months to 4 years, meals, playful

LOCATION:

Address: 120 Virginia Ave, San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone: (415) 341-4144
Website: www.wonderschool.com

REVIEWS:

“We love Erica and Marc! Your daycare is so amazing! “

Shera Elliott graduated from New Mexico State University with a major in biology and a minor in biological foundations of behavior and health management. Shera grew up in Los Angeles but moved to college in Las Cruces. Shera has written for several major publications, including the Albuquerque Journal and NPR. Shera is a community reporter and also shares stories that are important to all Americans.

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