The history of early care and education (ECE) is rarely told in the context of state history, yet so much of how the ECE system operates is a reflection of historical and present-day state and local contexts. California’s past visibly shapes early care and education today.
Starting in 1769 with the arrival of Spanish colonists, California had a history of discriminating and exploiting entire populations of children and families. This continued when public schools established during early statehood in the 1850s were segregated by race.
The state’s past underlies contemporary racial disparities in access to services for children and families, as well as job roles, training opportunities, and equitable pay for the early care and education workforce. Likewise, historical racial discrimination drives ongoing disrespect for and knowledge about the cultural and linguistic traditions of Asian, Black, Indigenous, and Latine communities as well as other people of color and marginalized groups. Prejudice and discrimination also affect how these populations are reflected in dominant methods and practices of teaching and caregiving
This overview of California history as it relates to caring for and teaching young children aims to inform our understanding of how injustices from pre- and early-statehood continue to replicate themselves in different ways in present-day California. The paper also includes several accounts of resistance by non-White people.
Our aim is to encourage readers to question what they have learned about California, to inspire them to think differently, and to uncover more about the history of their own states and its impact across early care and education today.
Suggested Citation
Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (2025). California’s History of Discrimination and Exclusion Haunts Early Care and Education Today. Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, University of California, Berkeley. https://cscce.berkeley.edu/publications/report/california-history-haunts-ece-today/.
