As the summer winds down, many of our youngest learners are starting school for the first time in a universal pre-kindergarten (UPK) class. Four-year-olds in most of Monroe County (as well as three-year-olds living in Rochester) are eligible to enroll in these free programs which build critical skills and help children adjust to a classroom environment.

Access to high-quality early learning can have a huge impact on a student’s future educational and career success. Some of the many benefits of pre-k include:

• Increased social, emotional, physical, and behavioral development
• Stronger early reading and math skills
• Decreased chance of repeating a grade in elementary school
• Higher rates of high school graduation and college attendance

Despite sharp declines in enrollment during the height of the pandemic, more Monroe County children than ever participated in UPK during the 2023-24 school year. Currently, fourteen local school districts operate a state-funded full-day program and two offer a state-funded half-day program (East Rochester & Wheatland Chili). Pittsford and Brighton do not yet offer free (state-funded) universal pre-kindergarten programs, but some tuition-based classes are available in the districts.

Explore the map below to see how UPK enrollment has changed in your district over the last ten years.

As Universal Pre-Kindergarten continues to expand in New York, state leaders must ensure districts have the funds necessary to maintain high-quality programs. Under the existing funding model, school districts are only able to access additional funding each year when their programs are expanding. Districts like Rochester that are already serving nearly all eligible families are flat-funded, meaning they may struggle to keep up with inflation and rising costs.

New York has an opportunity to correct this during an upcoming redesign of the Foundation Aid school funding formula. In order to ensure school districts have the resources necessary to support our youngest learners, UPK per-pupil funding should be indexed to the K-12 per-pupil rate for all children, regardless of a district’s ability to enroll more students.

To learn more about how UPK is funded in New York, visit: Funding Universal Pre-Kindergarten Education – The Children’s Agenda (thechildrensagenda.org)

To learn more about the Foundation Aid school funding formula redesign, visit: Foundation Aid Study | Rockefeller Institute of Government (rockinst.org)

Shannon Mullin is a Research and Policy Analyst at The Children’s Agenda.