Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are joining forces to launch a preschool development grant competition that will see $250 million divided between states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
• Pennsylvania, for example, could be eligible for as much as $20 million for a single year, though Education Secretary Arne Duncan hopes the program can receive additional funding to be renewable for up to four years. 
• States with little-to-no pre-K programs are encouraged to apply, though states with more robust programs or with Race to the Top funding can also seek the grants as a means to expand and strengthen their current programs.  

Dive Insight:

According to Duncan, the grants aim to help states with the "building, developing and expanding [of] voluntary, high-quality preschool programs in high-need communities for children from low- and moderate-income families." The competition's goals mesh with the current national emphasis on early-education development. Once seen as something states could skip, pre-K is now viewed as a must, with many states aiming to provide universal pre-K for all 3- to 5-year-olds.