Overview
- The Fund for Educational Excellence will manage the grant and coordinate efforts with organizations already boosting pre-K enrollment and quality.
- Funding will support data collection on access and enrollment, public readiness campaigns, navigators to help families find programs, and services for children with special needs.
- Mayor Brandon Scott directed Planning Director Tim Keane to pinpoint vacant or underused properties, including mixed-use sites, that could be converted into child care and pre-K facilities with private support.
- City Council President Zeke Cohen instructed the Education and Youth Committee to hold hearings focused on child care costs and access to pre-K.
- Officials describe this as an initial rollout phase, noting persistent gaps such as 800–1,000 children entering kindergarten each year without prior schooling and greater needs in neighborhoods like Cherry Hill.