The history of expansion of early childhood education in Shelby County is a long one, with many attempts along the way. In 2006, the first Volunteer Pre-K (VPK) program in TN was started. Race to the Top later enabled some classroom expansion beginning in 2010. Meanwhile, HeadStart has played a crucial role since the 1970s. A failed sales tax referendum in 2012 would have directly funded new classrooms. In 2014, community leaders worked together to create 80 new classrooms through the federal Pre-K Development Grant (PDG).
With this funding ending in 2018, Seeding Success wrote and advocated for a joint ordinance between the city and county to create a dedicated fund to provide high-quality pre-K seats for four-year-olds from low-income families, free of charge. As part of the ordinance, First 8 Memphis was created to act as the fiscal agent to manage funds and act as a coordinator for pre-K operators. But beyond that, First 8 is focused on building and supporting a comprehensive 0-8 approach.
The city and county have invested approximately $90 million over the last six years to provide ~12,000 four-year-olds with a free, high-quality pre-K education through this program, and it’s working! In every testing category, students who attend a First 8 classroom outperformed their peers who did not attend pre-K.
To qualify for a free pre-K seat under this ordinance, families must make less than 300% of the federal poverty level (approximately $96,000 annually for a family of four). This left a fairly sizable gap in pre-K coverage for middle-income families, which was especially true for parents who work as teachers and first responders. In many cases, teachers who worked in schools where a First 8 Memphis pre-K classroom was operating made too much money to qualify for a free seat, but too little money to afford private pre-K. The same is true of many first responders. These types of conundrums were a driving factor for the creation of the “Pre-K for All” ordinance.
