Free pre-K adds 100 seats, and providers get the state's per-child rate in January

Philadelphia's free preschool program, PHLpreK, is adding 100 seats. Starting in January, the city will pay providers the same amount per child as the state's Pre-K Counts program. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker announced both changes last Thursday, Oct. 22, at City Hall, the Philadelphia Tribune reported.

For families, this means a few more free seats. For the centers that run them, it means more money per child. Many centers have trouble hiring and keeping teachers on what they can pay.

What was announced

According to the Tribune and NBC10:

• Seats. 100 more free PHLpreK seats, raising capacity to 5,350 children for the 2026-27 school year. The Tribune counted 239 sites; NBC10 reported 238 centers.
• Rate match. Starting January 2027, the city will match Pre-K Counts' per-child funding. Neither outlet reported the dollar amount or the total cost.
• Hiring help. A new recruitment and hiring hub, built with the William Penn Foundation, the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia and the district's Early Learning Department. It will handle advertising, background checks and hiring for centers.
• Funding source. PHLpreK is paid for by the city's beverage tax, NBC10 reported.

"We know that simply creating the free seats, that's not enough," Parker said, according to the Tribune. "The seats must be high quality." She described the gap between state and city rates as "a system of the haves and the have-nots."

Council President Kenyatta Johnson said he is committed to finding long-term funding for the program, NBC10 reported. One South Philadelphia center director told NBC10 that hiring help alone won't fix staffing without money for competitive pay and benefits.

What our records add

• Council's role. The event was organized by Johnson's Special Committee on Early Childhood Education with the administration, the Tribune reported. The program's money goes through the annual budget that Council passes each June. A rate increase that starts in January will carry into the next budget, which the mayor proposes in the spring.
• Where the new providers are. The Tribune reported that a Council map of the new providers shows three each in the 2nd District (Johnson) and the 8th District (Bass), and none in the 3rd (Gauthier), 5th (Young) or 7th (Lozada). The new providers named include Brightside Academy, Rising Scholars, Mandy's Learning and Child Development Center, Ferguson Faces of the Future and the Salvation Army.
• Nothing pending on the agenda. None of the items on Council's agendas this week concern pre-K. That includes the Oct. 29 session.

The longer view

The program has served more than 40,000 children since January 2017, and 97% of its seats are now in programs rated three or four stars, up from 56% when it began, the Tribune reported. The reimbursement rate has risen more than 25% over the past decade.

What's next

The rate match starts in January. The Tribune reported that the new seats will be rolled out across neighborhoods from Southwest Philadelphia to the Northeast. The open question, as NBC10 noted, is how the higher rate will be sustained in future budgets. Budget hearings begin after the mayor's spring budget address.