New York State launched its Universal Pre-K (UPK) program in 1998, merging it with the state’s targeted pre-K program in 2007. In 2014, the Statewide Universal Full-Day Prekindergarten Program (SUFDPK) was created by statute (Chapter 53 of the Laws of 2014); the program allocated $340 million for grants to incentivize and fund full-day UPK programs across the state; $300 million of this funding went to launch New York City’s UPK program, and the remaining $40 million was disbursed across the state to expand full-day programs. Thanks to these expansion efforts, 52% of the state’s 4-year-olds were enrolled in public pre-K. The percentage dropped to 46% in 2021 but returned to 52% in 2022. As part of the 2022 enacted budget, the state allocated an additional $90 million for noncompetitive awards to districts that had not yet received state funding to support UPK, and $15 million for competitive grants to expand full-day seats for 4-year-olds. The competitive grants are awarded through an RFP process, overseen by the state’s Office of Early Learning. In 2023, the state appropriated an additional $25 million for statewide pre-K grants to create either new full-day slots, or to expand half-day slots to full-day slots for 4-year-olds; this round of funding will be awarded through an RFP process. Learn More: New York Universal Prekindergarten Expansion Funding Sources:New York State Department of Education. (n.d.). 2023-2024 Universal Prekindergarten Expansion Grant.New York State Department of Education. (n.d.). Questions and Answers for GC 22-010a - Universal Prekindergarten Expansion Grant.National Institute for Early Education Research. (2023). New York.

Established in 2010, New York Works for Children (NYWC) is New York State's integrated professional development system for early education professionals. NYWC offers both training (offered in multiple languages and formats) and coaching to teachers, teaching teams, directors, administrators, family care workers, and assistant teachers and aides. Coaches can work with a participant for a year or more, and each one-on-one coaching session lasts for a minimum of 30 minutes. Early education professionals can receive training/professional development credit for participating in coaching. NYWC also coordinates the Aspire Registry, which is a professional registry designed to help early educators find and track their progress through high-quality professional development. NYWC is funded by multiple city and state agencies; it was founded by the Early Childhood Advisory Council's Workforce Development Workgroup in 2010. Today, the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute, a public-private partnership, leads NYWC and manages the day-to-day operations. Learn more: New York Works for Children Source: New York Works for Children. (n.d.).

In March 2019, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed SB 22 into law, establishing the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, a cabinet-level state agency charged with overseeing early childhood programs across the state. After a transitional period, the new department launched officially in July 2020. The state then enacted a $109 million expansion of New Mexico PreK to improve pre-K teacher compensation, increase instructional hours, and expand access to pre-K for thousands of children across the state. As a result, pre-K enrollment grew from 10,989 children in fiscal year 2019 to 14,183 in fiscal year 2022. During this time, the state also expanded the Child Care Assistance Program, doubling the eligibility threshold for families from 200 percent to as much as 400 percent of the federal poverty level. The creation of a new department does not automatically create better outcomes for children, but it can help provide the structure and coordination needed to improve early education quality and accessibility across a state or city (Kagan & Gomez, 2015). Learn More: New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department Source:National Conference of State Legislatures (2022). Early Childhood: What's Governance Got to Do With It?New Mexico Legislature (2019) SB 22Brookings Institute (April 2023). New Mexico’s early childhood education amendment is a model for economic mobility other states should consider.Forbes (2022) For Child Care Gains; Look to States, Not the Feds.Kagan, L. and Gomez, R. (Eds.). (2015) Early Childhood Governance: Choices and Consequences. Teachers College Press.

In 2022, New Mexico passed House Bill 83, which established the Early Childhood Education and Care Fund, an investment of $300 million in the state's future through early childhood development and education. This endowment is managed by the State Investment Council. In FY 2022, the Fund distributed $20 million to the Early Childhood Education & Care Department (ECECD). In FY 2023, the fund began distributing $30 million annually, or 5 percent of its three-year average, to the ECECD. The fund is dedicated to enhancing the quality and accessibility of early childhood services for children from birth to age five. It allocates resources to a variety of programs, including early learning facilities, health services, family support, and professional development for educators. Specifically, the funds go toward improving existing child care and early education centers, developing new facilities, and ensuring that educators are well-trained to provide high-quality early childhood experiences. Learn More: Early Childhood Education and Care Fund Sources: New Mexico State Investment Council. (n.d.). Early Childhood Education and Care Fund. Office of the Governor. (2020). Governor creates Early Childhood Trust Fund.

In 2021, the New Mexico Legislature passed a joint resolution to allow voters to determine, via a constitutional amendment, whether the state should increase annual distributions from its multibillion-dollar Land Grant Permanent Fund and spend a portion of the new funding on early childhood care and education services. The amendment passed with 70% voter approval. The annual allocation for early education and care in the state is approximately $150 million. This dedicated funding stream builds on a decade of advocacy; New Mexico Voices for Children initially proposed the Land Grant fund in 2011 and tried every year thereafter to pass the legislation. Learn More: How Grassroots Activists Got Early Childhood Education Aid on the Ballot in New Mexico

Announced in September 2021, the Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) Pre-K Pay Parity Program ensures state-funded community-based pre-K educators and directors are compensated at a level comparable to pre-K teachers working in the public schools. The program covers the difference between the New Mexico Public Education Department base amount and an educator or director's annual salary. To be eligible for this program, educators and directors must:

• Serve in a New Mexico-funded Pre-K, Early pre-K, or Mixed-Age pre-K program in a community-based setting and
• Have a bachelor’s degree or higher in early childhood education, early childhood multicultural education, or another degree + alternative licensure/18+ credit hours in early childhood education
• Individuals who meet the above requirements are assigned a category depending upon their education and work experience. This category determines the base compensation amount:
• Category 1: Bachelor’s degree with 0-3 year’s work experience | $50,000 base salary
• Category 2: Bachelor’s degree with more than 3 year’s work experience | $60,000 base salary
• Category 3: Master’s or doctoral degree with at least five year’s work experience | $70,000 base salary

Learn More: New Mexico Pre-K Pay Parity Sources: New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department. (n.d.). Pre-K Parity Information.

Created in 2012, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services' North Carolina Early Childhood Integrated Data System (NC ECIDS) is a warehouse for data on education, health, and social services provided to children from birth to age 5. The warehouse, which began as a federated system (i.e., a data sharing system that does not consolidate all data in one warehouse), integrates demographic, program, and individual data on education, health, and social services to children birth to age 5 (e.g., data from NC Pre-K, Child Care Financial Assistance, NC Infant Toddler Program, Food and Nutrition Services, Child Protective Services, Work First Family Assistance, Head Start, Preschool Exceptional Children's Program, etc.). NC ECIDS provides individual data using unique identifiers to agencies or to qualified researchers or institutions that have requested data. It also provides public demographic and program data on the state’s Early Childhood Data Dashboards by program, fiscal year, gender, race, ethnicity, age, and county. NC ECIDS supports the state’s P-20 longitudinal data system. The system has received federal funds from the Race to the Top–Early Learning Challenge Grant and Preschool Development Grant Birth Through 5 (PDG- B-5). Learn More: North Carolina Early Childhood Integrated Data System Sources:North Carolina Department of Information Technology and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2020). The Roadmap to a North Carolina Longitudinal Data System (NCLDS)North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. (2022). NCDHHS Launches New Integrated Early Childhood Data Dashboards.US Department of Health and Human Services, US Department of Education. (2016). The Integration of Early Childhood Data

In 2006, the North Carolina State Lottery was established and signed into law by the state legislature. The lottery proceeds include an Education Lottery Fund (about 20% of the overall proceeds), a portion of which is dedicated to Pre-K. In fiscal year 2022, 7.4% of lottery revenue, or just under $69 million, was directed toward funding preschool in the state. Learn More: North Carolina Education Lottery Source: North Carolina Education Lottery. (2022). History of Lottery Fund Assignment.

Launched in 2014, New York City's universal Pre-K for All program serves 4-year-old children across the city's 5 boroughs. Pre-K for All was followed by a pilot of 3-K for All, a version of the program for 3-year-olds, in 2017. Pre-K for All operates through a mixed-delivery system, and children are served by community-based organizations, public schools, and Pre-K Centers, the last of which are pre-K and 3-K-only facilities run by Department of Education (DOE) staff. All 4-year-olds are eligible for "School Day" slots, which provide education and care for 6 hours and 20 minutes a day during the school year, which typically runs from September to June. Some families are eligible for additional programs, including extended-day and extended-year education and care. Expansion efforts in the City are currently stalled as a new administration may pull back expanding access for both pre-K and 3K. Learn More: New York City Pre-K Sources:New York State Education Department. (n.d.). Universal Prekindergarten Expansion Funding.New York Times. (2023). New York City’s Pre-K System Was a Model. Now Employees Say It’s a Mess.New York City Public Schools. (n.d.). 3-K for All & Pre-K for All Handbook.

The Oakland Children’s Initiative (Measure AA) was approved by voters in November 2018 and was upheld by the courts in 2021. This charter amendment authorizes the City of Oakland to collect $198 per year in parcel tax on single-family homes, and $135.25 per year per unit of multi-unit residences, from FY 2019-20 to FY 2048-49. This will produce around $35 million annually in funding for early care and education and college preparedness programs for Oakland residents for the next 30 years. Qualifying low-income households can be exempted from the parcel tax. Sixty-two percent of the tax revenue is used to expand access to and quality of early education and child care. Another seven percent is used for oversight and accountability, including the cost of operating the mayor-appointed Citizens’ Oversight Commission, which administers audits, implementation planning, and outreach.  Oakland leaders aim to use this revenue to deliver preschool to all 3- and 4-year-olds in the city within a decade. For now, initial investments will improve facilities serving 3- and 4-year-olds and provide staffing support. The funds will also provide professional development, training, and coaching for early educators, as well as increase access to classroom materials and technology. Measure AA was entangled in legal battles following its initial approval by 62% of voters. Although the measure specified that it needed two-thirds approval to pass, the City Council later determined that only a simple majority, or 50%, was needed. In January 2019, the Oakland Jobs and Housing Coalition, along with a group of property owners, sued the City of Oakland, arguing that the City Council certified Measure AA unlawfully, given that it failed to earn support from two-thirds of the voters. But in December 2021, a California appeals court upheld the measure’s passage on the legal grounds that citizen-led ballot initiatives need only a simple majority, regardless of the language on the ballot. LEARN MORE: OAKLAND CHILDREN'S INITIATIVE Sources: City of Oakland. (2018). Measure AA. Ballotpedia. (2018). Oakland, California, Measure AA, Education Parcel Tax Charter Amendment. New America. (2023). In the San Francisco Bay Area, Two New Funds Support Early Care and Education. First 5 Alameda County. (n.d.). Ballot Measures. Oakland North. (2019). Lawsuit challenges Oakland’s certification of education funding tax Measure AA.

In June of 2011, Governor Snyder signed Executive Order 2011-8 creating the Michigan Office of Great Start (OGS), within the Department of Education (MDE). The Office helps coordinate early education programs and funding streams for the state and oversees Michigan's publicly funded pre-K program, the Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP). The OGS is part of the P–20 System and Student Transitions Division in the MDE. There are four offices within OGS that all report to the deputy superintendent of the division, including Early Childhood Development and Family Education; Preschool and Out-of-School Time Learning; Child Development and Care; and Head Start Collaboration. Learn more: Michigan Great Start Readiness Program Sources:Education Commission of the States (2021). Early Care and Education Governance.School Readiness Consulting & Michigan Department of Education. (2022). Michigan's Collective Early Childhood Action Plan.

Philadelphia’s Office of Integrated Data for Evidence and Action was created in 2022 to host the city’s integrated data system. The system collects, stores, links administrative records on demographic, program, individual data on social services across multiple city programs (e.g., birth records, health records, foster care, pre-K, early intervention) and agencies (e.g., Education, Early Childhood, Housing). The private individual-level data is matched and deidentified using an internal matching system. The data system is used internally for policymaking and research in the city and has strong ties to Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP) at the University of Pennsylvania. The Office of Integrated Data for Evidence and Action was created by Mayor James Kenney’s Executive Order 2-22. But the city's integrated data system—formerly known as both CARES and KIDS—had existed since 2002, funded by seed grants from William Penn Foundation and by a collaboration among the City of Philadelphia, the School District of Philadelphia, and the University of Pennsylvania. Learn More: The Office of Integrated Data for Evidence & Action