BUDGET
While these funding increases are a meaningful step forward, they fall short of the level needed to fully address the challenges facing Pennsylvania’s early learning system. To meet the growing needs of children and families, policymakers should invest additional funding to strengthen and expand these programs.
We remain committed to working with policymakers to build on this progress through sustained investments that strengthen the early childhood workforce, address the ongoing teacher recruitment and retention crisis and ensure high-quality early learning programs remain strong, stable and accessible to families across the Commonwealth.
State Budget Delivers Modest Gains for the Early Learning Workforce but Leaves Out Critical Supports for Pennsylvania’s Youngest Children
Today, the principal partners of Early Learning Pennsylvania (ELPA), a statewide coalition of advocates, expressed appreciation for some small steps forward in addressing early education workforce shortages in the 2026–27 state budget. They also emphasized that the commonwealth must do far more to support programs such as infant and toddler Early Intervention to ensure that every Pennsylvania child from birth to age five has access to affordable, high-quality early care and education by 2030.
PA Partnerships for Children Pre-K Data
This interactive review at the Pennsylvania House, Senate and school district levels includes local data on children served, unmet need, the number of high-quality providers, current capacity and much more. Not sure where your legislative districts or school district are on the maps? No problem. Use the convenient search functionality on each map to look up your legislators or school district.
The link of the sources and methodology: 2025-26 Pre-K for PA Data Sources and Methodology
