Boston’s pre-K program will expand to include all 4-year-olds in the City of Boston within the next five years, Mayor Martin J. Walsh, BC ’09, announced in a press conference in Dorchester, Mass., Tuesday morning.
The expansion is being made possible by a $15 million investment, which will come out of the 2020 budget to establish the “Quality Pre-K Fund.” Over the next five years, Walsh hopes to bridge the current 750-seat gap in Boston’s pre-K program, which was originally 1,500 when he first took office in 2014, according to a press release from the mayor’s office.
“We need to make sure access to pre-kindergarten is a guarantee for every single family in Boston—regardless of income or background,” Walsh said outside the ABCD Walnut Grove Head Start school.
Walsh first emphasized the need for universal pre-K during his campaign for mayor in 2013. Boston Public Schools plans to work with community organizations, like the Boys and Girls Clubs, to reach their goal.