State board of education looking for new providers in preschool
‘deserts’
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[June 02, 2023]
By PETER HANCOCK
Capitol News Illinois
phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – Even though Gov. JB Pritzker has yet to sign the budget
bill lawmakers just passed, the Illinois State Board of Education is
seeking applicants for some of the new money contained in that bill.
ISBE is looking for new providers to offer preschool programs in areas
of the state designated as “preschool deserts,” with the goal of
creating 5,000 new preschool slots in the upcoming school year.
The $75 million in new funding available for new preschool slots this
year is part of Pritzker’s $250 million “Smart Start Illinois”
initiative, a four-year effort that seeks to make early childhood day
care and preschool available and affordable to every family in the state
who needs it.
That will bring the state’s total funding for early childhood block
grants to just over $673 million.
“We are wanting to make sure that every community is aware that these
grants are available,” State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders
said in a recent interview. “We want to make sure that school districts
know. We want to make sure that day care centers, religious
organizations, community-based organizations – that anybody that might
serve children in pre-K opportunities knows about these opportunities
and can apply.”
ISBE defines a preschool desert as an area where there is an
insufficient number of publicly funded slots to serve at least 80
percent of 3- and 4-year-old children from low-income families.
“And you find them everywhere, from Belvedere to Springfield to Shawnee,
all the way down in southern Illinois,” Sanders said.
The agency has identified 196 areas – including district regions,
counties and ZIP codes – in the state that meet that definition. Each
has a gap of 15 or more seats. Of those, 108 districts show a 100
percent need, meaning there are as many needed seats as there are
priority eligible children. Those areas have a combined 5,100 needed
seats.
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Illinois State Superintendent of
Education Tony Sanders is encouraging public and nonpublic
organizations to apply for funding to expand the availability of
preschool in areas of the state that are currently underserved. He
is pictured in his Springfield office. (Capitol News Illinois photo
by Peter Hancock)
The grants will fund the creation of new programs as well as the
expansion of existing programs with priority being given to applicants
who serve children in preschool deserts outside the city of Chicago,
which has a separate appropriation for early childhood programs.
The grants provide funding for three programs:
Preschool for All, which is 2.5 hours per day of preschool for
3-5-year-olds with licensed teachers and a standards-aligned curriculum.
Preschool for All Expansion, which offers five hours of preschool per
day along with physical and mental health services for 3-5-year-olds in
the highest need communities.
Prevention Initiative, which offers child development and family support
services for expectant parents and families with children from birth to
age 3 who are at risk of academic challenges.
ISBE has developed a website that offers information about the grant
programs and technical assistance for potential applicants. Applications
are open to public entities as well as private nonprofit and for-profit
organizations. Applications are due no later than 4 p.m. on June 14.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering
state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast
outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press
Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major
contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern
Illinois Editorial Association.
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