LAUSD tests tuition-free training to plug child-care staffing gaps

LAUSD tuition-free – On a campus shared by a Los Angeles Unified adult school and an early education center in Watts, adult students are getting tuition-free job training tied directly to classroom hours—an approach LAUSD hopes to expand as the county’s child-care workforce keeps

In Watts, the day begins the way many preschool mornings do: with songs, movement, and the kind of energy that doesn’t wait for anyone to feel ready.

Twice a week. students from the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center walk into classrooms at Bradley Early Education Center. where toddler rooms are already humming with the work of teaching 2- and 3-year-olds. They lead storytime. They serve breakfast on plastic plates and in sippy cups. They join music and movement activities. And when the tears come—or when behavior turns loud and rambunctious—they stay in the room. working through what comes next.

For child-care advocates, this isn’t just an educational exercise. It’s a response to a staffing shortage that has become hard to ignore.

At the center of the experiment is a partnership between the Los Angeles Unified adult school and an early education center that share a campus. Adult students receive tuition-free job training plus convenient access to the field work hours they need to earn their child development assistant permit.

“We know that there’s a big need in that space, and that many of our adult education students have this interest and these competencies,” LAUSD board member Kelly Gonez said. “It’s really about creating a pathway that’s going to help them meet the requirements and be able to enter the field.”

LAUSD is trying to scale the model while also pursuing a broader early education expansion plan that was unanimously approved by the school board in April. Administrators say the district wants to broaden its early education footprint to provide access to affordable child care and to build early loyalty with local families—aimed at curbing declining enrollment. The workforce is a major part of that effort.

The child-care industry has been losing workers faster than many centers can replace them. A 2025 study from the UC Berkeley Center for the Study of Child Care Employment found that roughly 20% of lead and assistant teachers in Los Angeles County leave child-care centers annually. Turnover among assistants is even higher at family child-care homes, reaching 28%.

Tuition-free training programs like the one run by LAUSD adult schools can lower barriers to entering the field. said Elena Montoya. associate director of research and policy at the UC Berkeley center. Programs also sometimes help cover costs such as CPR training and books. according to Rory Johnson. the child development instructor at the adult school. Still. low wages remain a persistent hurdle. and child care often has to compete with other career paths available to students at the same school.

LAUSD adult schools operate seven child development programs across the district, though how students complete their field work varies.

At the Waters center, 137 students have completed the program since 2020. Johnson said roughly a third of those students enter jobs in the child-care industry. Others continue schooling or shift into other industries. Among those who do work in child care. About a third return to jobs at LAUSD—either at an early education center or in a transitional kindergarten classroom. Johnson said. using her records.

Johnson tailors classroom support depending on what students say they want next. For those aiming for associate’s or bachelor’s degrees to become lead teachers. she encourages visits to schools and has students incorporate college applications into classwork. For students who want to open their own family child-care home. she helps connect them with resources to create a business plan.

After students complete the program, Johnson checks in with cohorts every three months to offer additional guidance.

Since the Waters center formalized the partnership in 2021. one other adult school has adopted the same arrangement. and a second is expected to do so soon. Pia Sadaqatmal. the district’s chief of transitional programs. said similar partnerships could also be set up as additional early education centers open near other adult schools.

Inside the classrooms. the training is designed to pull adults into a child’s world rather than simply observing it from the outside. Adult center classrooms mimic early education spaces, down to cubbies. Students start the day with morning songs and dancing to get accustomed to the work of educating 2- and 3-year-olds. They learn to prepare lessons and navigate behavior issues. They complete activities similar to what the children do, including painting and outdoor play using toy hoops and bouncy balls.

“It takes me back to my childhood,” student Carmen Esquivel said.

Esquivel, who is graduating this week, remembers a particular assignment tied to getting comfortable being playful. Wearing a handmade sock puppet with large googly eyes she bought at Walmart. Esquivel read “Snuggle Puppy!” in a high-pitched voice while her teenage daughter recorded. She said it took about 15 tries to get it right.

“It wasn’t easy, but it got me more comfortable being playful and creative — skills she said she needed in the classroom at Bradley Early Education Center.

When she talked about the course, she also described how it changed her sense of what teaching can look like.

“You don’t have to be so serious all the time,” Esquivel said.

After graduating, she plans to enroll at East Los Angeles College to complete the requirements necessary to become a lead teacher.

Instructor Lucretia Henderson. who teaches toddlers at Bradley Early Education Center on the same campus as the Waters center. said she makes a point of “think[ing] out loud” during class. She narrates what she’s doing so adult students can understand how she engages with children. Henderson said she tries to help students recognize developmental moments—such as when a child turns a book upright on their own after realizing it’s upside down. signaling letter recognition.

“There’s nothing like reading it in a book versus actually experiencing it in a classroom,” Henderson said.

The broader push for early learning and workforce development is also taking shape beyond the Watts campus.

District administrators are expected to deliver an early learning plan by September. The plan is meant to increase the number of affordable child-care options available to district families. establish relationships with local child-care providers. and build a stronger pipeline for early education workers. Officials say Bradley Early Education Center’s approach could serve as a jumping-off point for an LAUSD expansion in the industry.

Adult school students at the Waters center can also enroll their own children at Bradley Early Education Center, so they can attend class and study.

The early education center is also the first site testing evening care. The pilot began in the fall, designed to meet the needs of parents who work during the day and attend night classes or take evening jobs.

“The pilot that’s going on at Bradley Early Education Center is both a way to provide greater opportunities for students and the young children that we’re caring for, but also to help build the next generation of early childhood educators,” Gonez said. “It’s a win-win.”

LAUSD adult school child care workforce job training child development assistant permit Watts Bradley Early Education Center Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center Kelly Gonez transitional kindergarten early learning plan East Los Angeles College