Governor JB Pritzker along with local and community leaders visited Ball Elementary School in Chatham, Illinois to highlight investments in the Preschool for All program. The Governor met with Superintendent Becca Lamon, Principal Tricia Burke, teachers, and students on their first day back from winter break. Governor Pritzker’s administration has prioritized high quality early childhood education and childcare programs in a variety of ways, with the goal of supporting children, families, teachers, and providers. Under his leadership, Illinois’ early childhood education and K-12 system have been expanded in the following ways:

• Increasing the Early Childhood Block Grant by a total of $104.4 million, bringing the current funding to an all-time high of $598.1 million. This investment allows 89,000 children to participate in half-day preschool, 7,000 to participate in full-day preschool, and nearly 19,000 young children to receive home-visiting services.

• Increasing per child funding for preschool and home-visiting services, providing a 5% cost of living adjustment for community-based providers, and expanding access to doula services for women pre and post birth.

• Strengthening Illinois’ early childhood education and care field with investments that enable providers to continue serving their local communities and decrease financial burden for working families.

• Increasing access to healthy food options in schools across the state, providing Illinois children with the well-rounded, nutritious meals vital to a healthy learning environment.

• Launching the Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative to evaluate and redesign the delivery of behavioral health services for children and adolescents throughout Illinois.