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Eric Zunkley is a licensed real estate agent operating in Los Angeles, California. 

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A brief look at child care and education in Los Angeles.

Eric Zunkley

Since becoming a father, I started thinking more about education and daycare options. I grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland in the 90's. In that location, at that time, you went to your district school. Websites like Great Schools, Zillow, and readily accessible proficiency scores did not exist to compare schools at the frequency they are today. Today in Los Angeles, that is no longer the situation. There are a variety of options for parents to choose from and the stakes are high. I attempted to take a brief dive into some of the options available for education and childcare within LA Unified. Every time I try to finish this post new information keeps pulling me back. This will likely be updated in the future as I learn more.

Let’s try to understand Education in Los Angeles!

 
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Just Starting Out

Infant Toddler Care

  • 0-24 Months.

Preschool

  • Starting between the ages of 2 ½ and 3.

  • Prices for full-time preschool can vary widely but generally $1,200 - $2,000 a month.

  • If you only need partial preschool or a split week some places offer 3 and 4 day weeks and half-days. 3 days of full day care are $1,065 a month at Pinwheel Preschool.

  • The cheapest option for preschool is to join a cooperative program, you volunteer time and have a reduced cost.

  • There are public options available, California State Preschool Program Part-Day, but eligibility is restricted by your income. Go to Early Childhood Education Division to learn more about public options in LAUSD.

Nanny

  • Nanny’s or babysitters are roughly $20 an hour.

Primary Education Years

Transitional Kindergarten (TK) & Expanded TK

“Transitional Kindergarten, or TK, is year one of a two-year Kindergarten program.  TK provides an early childhood education program that builds a bridge between preschool years and traditional Kindergarten. With increasing academic demands and structure in Kindergarten, some parents are aware that their child may not be ready for the traditional Kindergarten program.  In addition, beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, a Transitional Kindergarten Expansion Program (TK-Ex) for younger children will be offered at selected schools.” - LAUSD Transitional Kindergarten and Expanded TK

ETK / TK / K Age Requirements

  • Transitional Kinder Expansion Program (ETK) - ETK is designed for students who turn 5 years old between December 3, 2020 and June 30, 2021. Limited availability, offered at selected schools.

    • The goal of ETK is to provide a quality preschool experience for low income children. Family residency within the school boundary is a priority. After all neighborhood children have been offered enrollment, students may enroll students outside of the school boundaries. A one year, no extension, ETK permit will be made available to facilitate this process.

    • For more details about ETK, visit the ETK Resource page on the LAUSD website.

  • Transitional Kindergarten (TK) – TK is designed for students who turn 5 years old between September 2 and December 2, 2020. Transitional Kindergarten is available in all LAUSD elementary schools.

  • Kindergarten - Child is required to be 5 years old on or before September 1, 2020 for the 2020-21 school year. Kindergarten is available at all LAUSD elementary schools.

  • First Grade - Students entering first grade are required to be age 6 by September 1, 2020. 

Public Schools

If you want to choose a public school your path of least resistance is choose the school in your district of residence. Check the LAUSD Resident School Identifier to search for schools based on an address. Public schools in Los Angeles that have higher test scores often have more expensive homes associated with that address. Most schools do not publish their attendance boundaries and neither does LAUSD (I have asked.) If you want to attend a school outside of your district have a couple options. Your first option to attend a public school outside of your district is to apply for an inter-district transfer. This requires your school of residence to release you and the requesting school to accept you, one does not guarantee the other. Your second option is to apply during open-enrollment. Open Enrollment is a state-mandated policy allowing students K-12 to transfer to any school in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) that have identified available seats for the subsequent school year.

It’s worth considering how you will gauge if your child will be successful at a particular school. The most accessible and quantifiable way to estimate if your child will be successful is to look at proficiency scores of other students. This is an imperfect measurement and often masks other social and economic issues. Testing gives you a snapshot but does not measure growth over time. You should tour the school, meet the principle, and learn about the PTA for the prospective school.

If you are considering moving for school and want to be in an area with a higher rated public school. You can view the potential additional housing costs as the alternative for paying for a private school. For example, Saint James on average is $28,343 per year or $2,362 per month from K-6th grades. That is the equivalent of financing a loan of $544,000 at 3.25% for 30 years.

 “We think of public education as being free, and we think of the main divide in education between public and private schools,” Jonathan Rothwell of the Brookings Institution was quoted as saying at the website for the National Association of Realtors. “But it turns out that it’s actually very expensive to enroll your children in a high-scoring public school.” What is the Connection Between Home Values and School Performance?

Charter Schools

Independent charter schools offer an alternative to the school in your district of residence. They also offer the potential to find a unique education that matches the needs of the student. There are two types of charters: fully independent or district affiliated. District-affiliated have closer ties to the district and give preference to children in the school’s district map. Both must have their board-approved charter proposal, and both are held to a high level of accountability. Affiliated charters are likely in more expensive areas and there aren’t many of them.

“Of the 53 affiliated charter schools in LA Unified there are three high schools, five middle schools and the rest are elementary schools. Of the nearly 650,000 LA Unified students, 41,555, or about 6 percent, attend affiliated charters. That’s compared to 107,000 enrolled at 221 independent charters, which are publicly funded and independently operated public schools.” - Affiliated charters: A successful model on its way out?

If you’re interested in learning more about affiliated charter schools I suggest reading the article linked above. The following graphs are pulled from that article.

 
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Magnet Program

Like charter schools magnets are an option outside of your district of residence.  LAUSD Magnet schools offer theme-based instruction with high quality teachers that will meet the needs of your child. From the LAUSD Magnet’s website, “The LAUSD Magnet Program is a court-ordered voluntary integration opportunity available to all students in grades K-12 who live within the boundaries of LAUSD. The purpose is to provide an integrated educational and personal experience which prepares them to function in a diverse society, and helps to eliminate, reduce or prevent long-standing patterns of racial isolation. Magnet School openings are determined by the need to maintain a racially balanced enrollment and by available space. Only gifted, high ability, highly gifted Magnets require specific eligibility criteria.”

Private Schools

Offer the student and parents an opportunity to find a culture match. The most obvious drawback to private schools is that they often come with a price tag. Here are two private schools I’ve looked at,
Center for Early Education, and Saint James.

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