On The Road to Pre-K Expansion

A Look Back, A Look Ahead One year ago, Early Learning Indiana published “Success Starts Early: Indiana’s Roadmap for Pre-K Expansion” in conjunction with the All IN 4 Pre-K campaign. Within that Roadmap, Indiana early childhood experts, parents, business leaders and community advocates called for a significant expansion of high-quality pre-K to reach more children and articulated key principles and recommendations to guide that expansion. Over the course of the following year, families, leaders and advocates from across the state raised their voices for pre-K, issuing dozens of letters to the editor, hosting roundtables with key lawmakers and attending a Statehouse rally. The United Way of Central Indiana, along with key business and community partners brought proposed expansion plans to the legislature. Indiana lawmakers listened to those Hoosier voices. In April 2017, the Indiana General Assembly approved an expansion of the state’s On My Way Pre-K program for low-income four-year-olds from five counties up to 20 counties. The annual funding dedicated to helping young Hoosiers get a great educational start grew from $12 million to $22 million. While much more funding is needed to serve the estimated 27,000 low-income Hoosier children who lack access to pre-K, this level of funding is an important milestone for Indiana.