Teacher stands at the front of an elementary classroom using hand gestures while students sit at desks with raised hands, with a whiteboard, posters, and classroom materials visible behind her.
Dawn Payne, a science and music teacher at Buttonwillow Union Elementary, teaches the kindergarten class a lesson about shapes on March 27, 2023. (Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local via Bay City News)

This was written by staff at the nonprofit newsroom CalMatters. It was republished by The Mendocino Voice in partnership with CalMatters to bring relevant nonpartisan news to Mendocino County readers. Learn more about CalMatters here.

SACRAMENTO, CA., 1/12/26 — The past few years, California has been all about the ABCs, 1-2-3s and the wheels on the bus, investing more than $5 billion in early childhood education.  

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Carolyn Jones covers K-12 education at CalMatters. A longtime news reporter, she’s covered education for nearly a decade, focusing on everything from special education to state funding policies to inequities...