Gov. J.B. Pritzker has vowed to bring preschool to every Illinois child. That’s easier said than done

CHICAGO — In his second inaugural address in January, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker promised to “make preschool available to every family throughout the state” — a feat that will require solutions to staffing shortfalls, school capacity limitations and an increase to the state’s nearly $600 million early childhood education block grant program.

Providing free preschool “for everyone who wants it” will “require a multiyear approach to funding,” a Pritzker spokesperson said, adding that the governor’s administration will be “working closely … with legislators, advocates, and other stakeholders on this in the years to come.”

Pritzker’s office did not provide an estimated cost of expanding access to prekindergarten statewide, saying his budget proposal has yet to be finalized. Block grant dollars, which a spokesperson said would eventually fund the initiative, already fall short of demand, with 16 eligible full-day preschool programs denied grants due to a lack of funding in the current fiscal year, an Illinois State Board of Education report shows.

According to the most recentfrom the National Institute for Early Education Research, Illinois enrolled less than a quarter of preschool-age children in 2021, when the state would have needed an estimated $505 million in additional funds to enroll all low-income children alone.