社区黑料

Join our zero2eight Substack community for more discussion about the latest news in early care and education.

Education policy and Hollywood rarely intersect. 

But when filmmaker Rob Reiner latched onto the science about how young children develop, he not only used his moviemaking platform to convince the public of the importance of kids鈥� early years, he became a real-life policymaker to champion the cause. 

After successfully steering the passage of a 1998 tobacco tax in California to fund programs for kids from birth to 5, he chaired the statewide commission overseeing how some of the funds were spent. The entertainment community remembered Reiner鈥檚 legacy as a director this week, after he and his wife Michelle Singer Reiner were found dead in their home. But others reflected on how he kept early-childhood development in the spotlight. 

鈥淭here are plenty of Hollywood actors, directors and leaders who engage in politics, write reasonably sized checks and do their best to make a difference. That was not Rob,鈥� said Ben Austin, a former Clinton White House staffer who handled communications for the California Children and Families Commission and quickly rebranded it as First 5. Twenty-seven years later, the work continues. 鈥淭his was not a side hustle.鈥�

For an education reporter, it was a big deal. I first interviewed Reiner and his wife in a suite at what was then the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in 1997. Early-childhood education was my beat, and he was there to talk to the nation鈥檚 governors about his I Am Your Child campaign. He wanted to start a movement and had the high-level connections to do it. The effort kicked off earlier that year with and a featuring celebrities such as Tom Hanks and Billy Crystal. With big-name corporate sponsors like Johnson & Johnson and AT&T, the initiative included a special edition of Newsweek and a series of parent-focused videos that translated the latest science on early brain development to a general audience.  

As a new mom, I couldn鈥檛 help but feel a personal connection to the topic. I reported on the policy goals of the campaign, like parent education and improving the quality of child care, while taking in the advice about reading and having back-and-forth conversations with my infant daughter. 

It was a 1994 report called , from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, that sparked Reiner鈥檚 activism. The authors explained how the first three years of life were a critical period of both risk and opportunity. 

鈥淎n adverse environment can compromise a young child’s brain function and overall development,鈥� the authors wrote. 鈥淎 good start in life can do more to promote learning and prevent damage than we ever imagined.鈥�

Michael Levine, a co-author, remembers sitting in the Reiners鈥� home theater in 1995, presenting the research to a small group, including actor Warren Beatty, actress Kate Capshaw and then-Disney Channel President John Cooke. Reiner, Levine said, wanted to replicate a Hawaii program called , which promoted understanding of child development and parents鈥� relationships with their babies. Then Beatty spoke up.

鈥淗e said something to the effect of 鈥業’ve been listening to this whole conversation about programs and philanthropy. What we can do is sell early childhood to America,鈥� 鈥� Levine recalled.

That pivotal moment took place in the same home where police said the Reiners were stabbed to death. The Reiners鈥� young children were there at the time, Levine said. On Sunday, their son , 32, was arrested for the murder. On Monday, police said their daughter found their bodies.

Despite being a far-left Democrat, Reiner found agreement with Republican governors, like Pennsylvania鈥檚 and of Ohio, over early-childhood issues, Levine said.聽

While I Am Your Child was a nationwide effort, Reiner kept his political strategy focused on California. In November 1998, voters narrowly passed his ballot measure, creating a 50-cent tax on tobacco products, beating back a $30 million effort from cigarette makers to defeat it. The revenue would fund programs to improve the health, school readiness and well-being of young children.

Reiner鈥檚 ability to combine his creative talent with political mobilization was 鈥渦nprecedented in the early-childhood field,鈥� Levine said. 

, I met Reiner in his Castle Rock Entertainment office in Beverly Hills, where posters of his hit movies, like “A Few Good Men,” and “When Harry Met Sally” line the walls.

First 5 was facing legal challenges, including a repeal effort sponsored by the president of a business called Cigarettes Cheaper. An author, , was also poking holes in the whole idea behind First 5, arguing that Reiner was oversimplifying the science and creating stress for parents about making the most of their kids鈥� early years. Reiner brushed off the criticism.

鈥淟et鈥檚 say there is no evidence,鈥� he told me. 鈥淲ould you then say, 鈥楲et鈥檚 not invest in child care for young children; let鈥檚 not invest in health care for young children?鈥� 鈥�

The repeal effort failed and until 2006, First 5 occupied almost as much of Reiner鈥檚 time as his movies. He presided over statewide commission meetings, and could 鈥渃ode switch鈥� between directing a scene and handling First 5 business, Austin said. In 2002, Austin remembers grabbing some time with Reiner on the set of 鈥淎lex and Emma,鈥� a love story starring Luke Wilson and Kate Hudson.

鈥淲e鈥檇 schedule with the producer like 15 minutes for me to talk to Rob in his trailer about early-childhood policy,鈥� he said. 

One of Reiner鈥檚 biggest wins during that period was getting First 5 leaders in Los Angeles County to toward expanding preschool.

鈥淭his is a historic day for the children, not only of L.A. County, but of the country,鈥� he said at the time. 鈥淭his is going to be the model.鈥�

He didn鈥檛 want to stop there. In 2006, he got a measure on the ballot that would tax California鈥檚 wealthiest residents to pay for pre-K for all 4-year-olds. With 鈥渟trong will and enormous confidence,鈥� he had little patience for those who might hurt the initiative鈥檚 chances of passing, said Bruce Fuller, a University of California Berkeley professor who advised Reiner鈥檚 team on the proposal. 

鈥淩einer was not necessarily the world’s greatest listener,鈥� Fuller told me. The plan called for the California Department of Education to set standards for the program and county school superintendents to run it. Fuller thought that was a mistake because it would take kids away from private providers 鈥� an opinion Reiner鈥檚 team rejected. But Fuller described Reiner as someone 鈥渨ho committed a ton of time and had a big heart to advance the issue.鈥�

Voters rejected the pre-K plan. But today, despite , First 5 continues to fund the statewide commission and 58 county-level agencies. They pay for a broad range of services, from home visiting for teen parents to training preschool providers. In 2018, I wrote of articles marking the 20th anniversary of the ballot measure. 

Reiner didn鈥檛 agree to an interview that time. But First 5 L.A. shared some of his as he reflected on what drew him to become an early-childhood education advocate. 

He was partly motivated by his own early experiences.

鈥淎s somebody who went through therapy, I started thinking about my early years and how they affected me,鈥� he said. 

But he also saw a political opportunity. 

鈥淕oals 2000 had just come out,鈥� he said, referring to the . 鈥淭he first goal was 鈥楢ll children will start school ready to learn.鈥� And I looked at all this and I said, you know, it seems to me if you could meet that one goal, if you could just make sure that every child has what they need to be healthy and ready to experience kindergarten, maybe all those other goals would kind of fall into line.鈥�

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 社区黑料鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.