An experiment involving preschoolers is underway in South Los Angeles, aimed at solving a persistent problem in the region’s beleaguered childcare industry: the lack of workers.
Through a partnership between the Los Angeles Unified School for Adults and the Early Childhood Education Center – which happens to share a campus – older students receive job training without tuition and easy access to the hours of work they need to get their license to help with child development.
“We know there is a great need in that space, and that most of our adult education students have this interest and these skills,” said LAUSD board member Kelly Gonez. “It’s really about creating a way that will help them meet the needs and be able to enter the field.”
This small-scale test — and the goal of measuring it — comes as LAUSD embarks on an ambitious plan to expand its early education curriculum, a move unanimously approved by the school board in April. The district’s planned expansion aims to provide access to affordable child care while building early credibility with local families to stem enrollment declines.
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Part of that effort includes investing in employees. Twice a week, students at the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center take field trips to early childhood education center classrooms. They lead story time, serve breakfast on plastic plates and soft cups, lead music and movement activities, and deal with tears and strange behavior.
“Why don’t you let them find out more? Why do they have to sit and watch?” said Rory Johnson, who teaches children at an adult school.
Student Carmen Esquivel, who graduated this week, said the course, “from the beginning until now, has been eye-opening. You don’t have to be a TA and work and just help. You can continue your education, and I can actually teach my class one day.”
Teacher Lucretia Henderson, who teaches toddlers at the Bradley Early Education Center, which shares the Waters center, says she makes an effort to “think out loud” as she works, narrating so that older students understand how she engages with children. He helps them to see the moments of growth, like when a child turns a book by himself when he sees that it is upside down, showing letter recognition.
“There’s nothing like reading it in a book compared to learning it in a classroom,” Henderson said.
Child care workers needed
The childcare industry has faced a challenging employment situation – a shrinking workforce. About 20% of principal and assistant teachers in LA County leave child care centers every year, according to a 2025 study from the UC Berkeley Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. The number of helpers is the highest in childcare homes, reaching 28%.
Unpaid job training programs like the one run by LAUSD offer an opportunity to lower barriers to entry and can serve as a springboard for other child care jobs, said Elena Montoya, associate director of research and policy at UC Berkeley. Grant programs often help cover additional costs such as CPR training and books, Johnson said. However, low wages remain a problem, leaving childcare competing with other options available at the same school.
LAUSD’s high schools have seven child development programs across the state, although how students complete their fieldwork varies.
High school student volunteer Diana Campos, center, works with a kindergarten student at the Bradley Early Education Center in Watts on May 5.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
At the Waters Institute, 137 students have graduated from this program as of 2020. About a third of its graduates go on to work in the child care industry, Johnson said. Some have gone on to study or go into other industries. About one-third of those students who worked in the industry returned to jobs in LAUSD, either in an early childhood education center or a temporary kindergarten classroom, according to his records.
As part of the process, Johnson tailors classroom support to help her students who want to advance their careers. For those who want to earn associate’s or bachelor’s degrees and become a lead teacher, she encourages them to visit schools and make a college application part of their class work. For students who wish to open their own family day care home, she helps them connect with resources to create a business plan.
Johnson also checks in with all of his cohorts every three months after completing the program to provide additional guidance.
Since the Waters center formalized the partnership in 2021, one other high school has already adopted the program and a second will soon do so. There may also be opportunities to establish similar partnerships as early childhood education centers are opened near other schools for the elderly, said Pia Sadaqatmal, the district’s transformational program officer.
In the classroom
Senior center classrooms mimic the look and feel of an early childhood education classroom, complete with cubbies.
Older students start the day with morning songs and dancing, which helps them get used to teaching 2- and 3-year-olds. In addition to learning to prepare lessons and navigate behavioral issues, they complete child-like activities, including drawing and playing outside with toy hoops and bright balls. It’s designed to take adults out of their comfort zone and into a child’s world, Johnson said.
Kindergarteners perform a dance during Cinco de Mayo celebrations at the Bradley Early Education Center in Watts on May 5.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Esquivel remembers one lesson assignment in particular. Wearing a handmade sock doll with giant googly eyes that she found at Walmart, Esquivel reads “Snuggle Puppy!” in a loud voice as his daughter was growing up recording.
It took him about 15 tries, he said. It wasn’t easy, but it helped him become more comfortable playing and creating — skills he says he needed in the classroom at Bradley Early Education Center.
“It takes me back to my childhood,” Esquivel said. “I never imagined myself doing vocals. That’s another thing I learned from this course – you don’t have to be serious all the time.”
Now that Esquivel is about to graduate, she will enroll at East Los Angeles College to complete the requirements to become a lead teacher.
LAUSD’s early education expansion
County administrators are expected to introduce an early learning program in September to increase the number of affordable child care options available to county families, establish partnerships with local child care providers and build a strong pipeline of early childhood education workers.
Officials say the Bradley Early Education Center’s approach to these critical issues could serve as a springboard for LAUSD’s growth in the industry.
Maria Lopez, center, works with preschoolers at the Bradley Early Education Center, on the campus of the Maxine Waters Employment Prep Center, in Watts on May 5.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Preschoolers can enroll their children in the Bradley Early Education Center, so they can attend class and learn. The early education center is the first to pilot evening care, a pilot program that began in the fall to meet the needs of parents who work during the day and attend night classes or work evening jobs.
“Exploring what’s happening at the Bradley Early Education Center is a way to provide great opportunities for the students and young children we serve, but also to help build the next generation of early childhood educators,” said Gonez, who introduced the early learning solution. “It’s a win-win.”
This article is part of The Times’ early childhood education program, which focuses on the learning and development of California children from birth to 5 years old. For more information about this program and its charitable sponsors, visit latimes.com/earlyed.
