PRESS ROOM

Kicking off a campaign to advocate for greater investment in high-quality pre-kindergarten programs, a statewide …

Citing strong public support for greater investments in high-quality pre-kindergarten programs, a newly formed coalition …

This is what 3 and 4 year olds do. They inquire, they look, they wonder, they learn. So long as they are in an environment that encourages their natural learning – which is what high quality pre-k programs do.
Pre K for PA is a new statewide initiative launched today to with the vision of every 3-4 yr old in Pennsylvania having access to quality pre-k programs.

Children in lead teacher Tessa Scherer’s Head Start class at Eagle View Elementary School in Somerset were learning about balls on Thursday.

They were painting small balls they had made, mixing chocolate for candy balls,playing with a toy wrecking ball, floating balloons in water and building with magnetic balls.

Area business and civic leaders gathered today to endorse a new initiative to promote pre-school education for every child in Pennsylvania.
The statewide program is dubbed “Pre-K for PA: All Children Ready To Succeed.”
Jill Michal, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and New Jersey, says high-quality pre-school programs are now available for less than 20 percent of three- and four-year-olds in Pennsylvania.

Pre-kindergarten funding in Pennsylvania currently helps fewer than 20 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds, according to the Pennsylvania Head Start Association.

“We’re going to be pushing the candidates to make really big commitments to pre-K,” said Blair Hyatt, PHSA’s executive director.
PHSA is among the ten founding organizations in the Pre-K for PA campaign that launched Thursday.

Quality pre-K programs can help kids later in school, both academically and socially. But many families can’t afford to send their children to pre-school, and government funding for early childhood programs has decreased in recent years.

A statewide effort was launched Thursday to ensure all three- and four-year-olds have access to quality pre-K programs. Michelle Figlar is executive director of the Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children, or PAEYC. She said research has shown children who have access to strong pre-K programs do better overall in school.

With too few Pennsylvania children enrolled in pre-K education programs, a statewide campaign was launched Thursday to trumpet the need for such schooling.

In Pittsburgh, a press conference was held at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill for Pre-K for PA, a statewide coalition of nonprofit organizations whose goal is to bring quality pre-K education to as many Pennsylvania 3- and 4-year-olds as possible while identifying necessary funding sources.

There are 771 young students in Luzerne and Wyoming counties stuck on waiting lists to get into one of the largest government-funded preschool programs.

In fact, the number waiting to get into Head Start and Pre-K Counts nearly matches the more than 800 students now enrolled, a result of federal spending cuts known as the sequester made last year.

A new coalition pushing for more pre-kindergarten schools across Pennsylvania is scheduled to launch Thursday, Jan. 23.

“Pre-K for PA: All Children Ready to Succeed” is scheduled to host a press conference at 1:30 p.m. at the Karabots Primary Care Center at 48th and Market Streets in Philadelphia.