{"id":132726,"date":"2026-03-08T09:35:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T09:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/132726\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T09:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T09:35:07","slug":"state-house-democrats-push-for-pa-to-invest-in-universal-pre-k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/132726\/","title":{"rendered":"State House Democrats push for Pa. to invest in universal pre-K"},"content":{"rendered":"

Less than half\u00a0of Pennsylvania\u2019s 3- and 4-year-olds participate in high-quality, publicly funded pre-K, according to Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children. An estimated 84,000 children are left out, and Black children are less likely<\/a> to attend high-quality programs.<\/p>\n

Research indicates<\/a> that a quality pre-K education prepares children for kindergarten and beyond. Attendees are less likely to be incarcerated later in life and more likely to graduate from high school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Hundreds pack Philly school district’s headquarters to oppose plan to close schools around city<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cPre-K is one of the most cost-effective investments that the state can make,\u201d said state Rep. Sean Dougherty (D-Philadelphia). \u201cHigh-quality early childhood education lays the foundation for lifelong learning and better health outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dougherty is a co-sponsor of House Bill 46<\/a>, which was the focus of a Tuesday committee meeting examining the benefits of universal pre-K.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Otis Bullock, the CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Community Alliance, noted low-income children are less likely to have access to early education resources and often enter school behind their well-off peers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is widely recognized that the trajectory of educational success is determined before a child enters kindergarten,”\u00a0Bullock said.\u00a0“The experiences that children have in the first months and years have decisive impacts on their neuropathological development. Early childhood education must be a core component of any educational improvement or economic development strategy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Recent analysis<\/a> from the National Bureau of Economic Research reported that parent wages increased by nearly 22% when families had access to universal pre-K, Bullock added. The study found parental gains outweighed government costs, with each dollar spent yielding $10 in benefits.<\/p>\n

A positive for families and schools<\/p>\n

On average, preschool costs Pennsylvanian families more than $12,000 annually \u2014 but prices vary from region to region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zaina Cahill, an early childhood education policy director with Children First PA, said she spent $15,600 each year for her 4-year-old child in a low-quality classroom in Philadelphia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were, unfortunately, not able to access a high-quality program in our neighborhood due to wait lists and costs,” she said. “It was $20,200, so it\u2019s pretty cost prohibitive.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Universal pre-K, on the other hand, \u201cwould create a pathway for economic mobility for many families throughout the commonwealth because then they wouldn\u2019t be spending $15,600 a year on child care,\u201d Cahill said. \u201cThis would be money that could be spent on all kinds of things to boost Pennsylvania\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

With more support, families may decide to have more children, she added, which could increase the state\u2019s sluggish population growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Cahill and others warned that schools alone cannot fill the state\u2019s need. Some districts, for example, offer only half-day kindergarten because of the lack of available space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Philadelphia School District wouldn\u2019t have the capacity to do it all on their own, and they will need organizations like mine to help them,\u201d Bullock said. \u201cSo a mixed delivery system is probably the best way when addressing the entire commonwealth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Tarik Khan (D-Philadelphia), would require school districts to offer preschool for all eligible children. But Khan called it an \u201copening gambit\u201d that would evolve through the legislative process. He said getting to universal pre-K in the commonwealth will \u201cdefinitely\u201d use a mixed approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to sort of get to where the programs \u2014 regardless of whether they\u2019re coming from schools, whether they\u2019re coming from these nonprofits or some of these other agencies \u2026 are offering this high-quality pre-K and it\u2019s available across the commonwealth,\u201d Khan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Schools, he said, would see a \u201chuge benefit\u201d from having students with a quality pre-K education.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to mean that (negative) behaviors are going to decrease,” Khan said. “It\u2019s going to mean that there\u2019s less truancy (and) more engagement. Test scores are going to be higher. It\u2019s a net positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

A closer look at costs and spending<\/p>\n

Pre-K Counts covers costs for thousands of children ages 3 and up from families earning up to 300% of the federal poverty level (or $99,000 for a family of four). Children with special needs or who are learning English may also qualify.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The program costs\u00a0$317 million under the 2024-2025 budget<\/a> to cover nearly 28,000 children, with nearly all funding going toward reimbursing providers. The state also allocated $91 million for the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program, which expands an existing federal program for families making 100% of the federal poverty level ($33,000 for a family of four).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Shapiro\u2019s proposed spending plan bumps both of those funds up<\/a>, adding $7.5 million to the former and $2 million for the latter.<\/p>\n

Philadelphia expanded its free preschool programing<\/a> more than eight years ago, outside of state- and federal-funded programs, using taxes from beverages. Though educational gains have been steady<\/a>, the program is not without its challenges<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Khan, who praised improvements in his district since Philadelphia expanded pre-K, said prioritizing high-quality education investments has been \u201ca very conscious decision\u201d for the Democratic House majority, pointing to previous state spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have significant investments to make in our schools, but this is a priority,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we\u2019re investing in education, we know that this is one of the smartest investments we can make.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also pointed to the need for additional revenue streams \u2014 a frequent theme of Shapiro\u2019s budget proposals. But while the governor seeks to legalize and tax recreational marijuana alongside a tax on skilled games, Khan pointed to taxes for companies extracting natural gas and on the wealthiest Pennsylvanians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat rich gas that we have here in Pennsylvania, the companies that are extracting them are not paying their fair share,\u201d Khan said. \u201cWe have an impact fee, but we don\u2019t have a severance fee. That\u2019s not hundreds of millions of dollars, that\u2019s billions of dollars for the commonwealth that could be used to fund something like universal pre-K.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khan is a co-sponsor, along with Rep. Chris Pielli (D-Chester), of House Bill 2129<\/a> to create that severance tax. According to the bill memo, Texas \u2014 another large natural gas-producing state, collected $2.13 billion in 2024 in severance tax revenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

House Bill 833<\/a>, sponsored by Khan, would impose an additional tax on income exceeding $1 million. According to the bill\u2019s memo, Massachusetts brought in more than $2.2 billion with a similar measure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy can\u2019t we do that here in Pennsylvania?” Khan said. “It\u2019s looking at other sources of income that are more than what we\u2019re currently bringing in right now. Because right now, it\u2019s up to the working people to really shoulder the load and it should be more fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Capital-Star<\/a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Tim Lambert for questions: info@penncapital-star.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Less than half\u00a0of Pennsylvania\u2019s 3- and 4-year-olds participate in high-quality, publicly funded pre-K, according to Pennsylvania Partnerships for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2258,227,28,30,9116,29,69,12538,521],"class_list":["post-132726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-democrats","tag-education","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-house","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-philadelphia","tag-pre-k","tag-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}