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Anita Singh and her husband Maunz Naylin stretch their budget every month, at times dipping into savings, to pay for private preschool for their 5-year-old son, Arthur.

Tuition at the Challenger Preschool in Sunnyvale, where Arthur spends weekday mornings, is $632 a month, or $6,320 a year for the 10-month program.
That’s almost twice as much as the cost of a year at a California State University campus, where a student’s average tuition and fees for 2005-2006 are $3,164 a year.

“We don’t spend on anything except education,’’ said Anita Singh. “We don’t go to the movies or eat out. We’ve cut our budget to the bare minimum.’’

They are not alone.

While California’s poorest families qualify for the federal Head Start program or a state-funded preschool program, many working and middle-class families find that preschool is unaffordable — or very nearly so. And a study of private preschool costs released Wednesday shows that Bay Area preschool costs are the highest in the state.

California families pay an average of $4,022 a year for part-time preschool and child care, according to the report, released by a non-profit group called Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California.

In Santa Clara County, the average cost of private preschool is $4,700 a year — making it the state’s second-most-expensive county, after Marin. Higher-end preschools can cost more than $1,000 more than the average.

The report is certain to fuel the growing debate about Proposition 82, the Rob Reiner-led ballot initiative that would tax the wealthy to provide a free year of preschool for every 4-year-old in the state.

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids has not taken a position on Proposition 82, which is on California’s June ballot. But the group is funded in part by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, two influential foundations that are committed to the concept of universal preschool and fund research, public education and advocacy.

Many preschool providers acknowledge that cost is a major factor for the families they serve.

“When people leave the Challenger system it’s usually a money issue,’’ said Clint Kirry, marketing manager for Challenger, which has 20 schools in California, Nevada and Utah. “They want to stay but they can’t afford it. We see a lot of parents who pay for preschool early on, and then make the switch to public schools.’’

But while it is widely agreed that high preschool costs are a problem, some education experts say Proposition 82’s state-funded universal preschool is not the best solution. “It would be a better investment if it was targeted at disadvantaged kids,’’ said Russell W. Rumberger, who teaches education policy at the University of California-Santa Barbara. “California would get more bang for the buck if we target it to the kids who need it most.’’

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a national non-profit organization with active chapters in nine states, including California. Its 2,500 members include district attorneys, sheriffs and police chiefs, and the group weighs in on a number of criminal justice and youth issues, from mental health for juveniles to bullying, after-school programs and methamphetamine addiction.

The group has also talked about preschool since its founding in 1996.

Tuesday’s report warned that children who struggle in school are more likely to drop out and turn to crime later in life.

“All you have to do is spend a little bit of time in juvenile court,’’ said Tom Orloff, the district attorney for Alameda County. “We see a lot of kids who haven’t been in school for protracted periods of time. Universal preschool will not solve all of the issues, but if kids are successful in school they are less likely to turn to gangs.’’