In the News

Multnomah County’s Preschool For All program is expanding to serve 1,575 more children in the 2025-26 school year.

The program aims to continue expansion with the goal of providing all children age three to four with free preschool by 2030 through a tax on high income earners. It was created through a ballot initiative that 64% of voters approved in 2020.

The program launched in 2022 with 500 seats and expanded to 728 by the end of the school year. In the 2023-24 school year it reached just under 1,400 seats, and in the current school year it has 2,225 seats.

During the 2025-26 school year it will reach 3,800.

“This is a remarkable milestone and it means that we will have quadruple the number of children served since the program’s inception in 2022,” said the program’s director, Leslee Barnes.

Read the full story here. 

Last month, New America posted a blog highlighting the ways that localities continue to invest in early childhood education amongst federal cuts to the social safety net. Recent budget crunches to early childhood spending on the federal and state levels have left local governments to fill in the gaps, with many communities doubling down on their investments in young children and families. Click here to read how localities in Georgia, California, Texas, and New York are working to bridge these gaps.

The Children’s Funding Project recently reported on wins for kids in several communities across the country, as voters established, expanded, and reauthorized voter-approved children’s funds in places including Seattle, WA and Cincinnati, OH.

In Seattle, nearly 78% of voters approved the Every Child Ready Levy, agreeing to raise their taxes by $0.245 per $1,000 of assessed property value to reauthorize, and greatly expand the (previously named) Families, Education, and Preschool Promise Levy. This renewal and increase, which achieved record high support for voter-approved children’s funds in Seattle (dating back to 1990), will double the number of affordable and accessible child care slots provided by the previous levy.

In Cincinnati, 73% of voters reauthorized the Cincinnati Public Schools property tax levy that directs $15 million per year to Cincinnati Preschool Promise. This second reauthorization demonstrates growing support for the fund, which was authorized in 2016 with 62% approval and renewed in 2020 with nearly 70% approval. This win will allow Cincinnati Preschool Promise to continue funding early education for 3- and 4-year-olds at over 100 preschools for at least the next four years.

Click here to read the full coverage from The Children’s Funding Project on these and other election wins this month.

Children’s Funding Project recently published new resources outlining how states have successfully created dedicated funding streams for children and youth and the strategies that advocates, policymakers, and community leaders can use to identify viable revenue options. Click here to access them.

MECK Pre-K continues to expand this school year to meet growing demand for high-quality early childhood education in Mecklenburg County.

This expansion was made possible by additional funding from Mecklenburg County; county commissioners approved an additional $3.4 million in the county budget to fund 10 new MECK Pre-K classrooms and support other program enhancements.

“Thanks to the county’s continued investment, we’re able to offer more families access to high-quality pre-K that prepares their children for success in school and life,” said Mary-Margaret Kantor, chief early education officer for Smart Start of Mecklenburg County. Read the full story here.

The American Heart Association recently posted the story, Evidence mounts that sugary drink taxes make communities healthier, positing that such taxes make communities healthier and help fund vital well-being programs such as access to healthy food and early childhood education. Lindsay Hovind, an American Heart Association regional vice president of advocacy, said what’s particularly exciting about the successful implementation of these taxes is that they actually foster two positive health impacts; “One is the tax itself, which by raising the price of sugary drinks drives down consumption,” she said. “But also, it’s generating revenue that can fund critical community needs.”

The story they highlights the successes and benefits of the Philadelphia Beverage Tax (PBT), whose revenue has been used to fund Philadelphia Pre-K (PHLpreK) and several other educational and neighborhood revitalization initiatives . Read here about how they formed a cross-sector coalition to advance their efforts.

New America recently published the report, Maximizing Impact Under Any Structure: Governance Lessons from Local Early Childhood Programs, focusing explicitly on local early childhood initiatives (those with dedicated local revenue sources) and their governance structures. Across locally funded early childhood initiatives, they identify and explain six archetypes for governance. Read about them here >>>

The Oregon State Legislature recently attempted to overturn Multnomah County’s Preschool for All.  A bill was introduced that would have sunsetted the program in two years, barring the county from collecting income tax to fund Preschool for All.  In 2020, voters approved a measure to create tuition-free universal preschool program funded by a progressive income tax.  The community generated 50,000 letters to ensure the Legislature heard from constituents that wanted the preschool program to continue.  Read about the myths that were circulating about why the local tax should be overturned. And read our original case study about Multnomah County’s Preschool for All.