Providing Pennsylvania’s 3- and 4-year-olds with access to high-quality, publicly funded pre-k is a cornerstone of early childhood education. High-quality pre-k prepares young children to enter kindergarten ready to succeed. Through the state’s current publicly funded pre-k programs, Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program, eligible families can enroll their children in high-quality programs to help set them on a path to success. However, access to high-quality, publicly funded pre-k is limited, and not every eligible 3- and 4-year-old in the state has an opportunity to participate. This lack of access can place some children behind their peers and with the challenge of trying to catch up once they enter the K-12 system. Only 65,970 eligible children attend high-quality, publicly funded pre-k*, while more than 100,000 eligible children are unserved. That means 61% of eligible children are missing an opportunity to realize the educational and social benefits that high-quality pre-k provides.
