Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that the City of Chicago has been awarded $600 million for early childhood education programming over the next five years. While peer cities such as New York and Los Angeles were asked to re-compete for their share of funding, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) renewed Chicago’s Head Start Funding due to the strength of the city’s programs. After taking office in 2011, Mayor Emanuel established the Early Childhood Education Task Force to overhaul the City’s programs; serve the most at-risk children in high–quality programs; and increase transparency and accountability of the City and individual programs.

The announcement is based on the evolving quality of Chicago’s pre-K programs, HHS has determined that Emanuel Administration has implemented reforms and investments to expand access, improve quality, and increase transparency that makes Chicago a national model in early education. The City will remain a grantee this year and in the four upcoming years as long as it successfully completes the HHS triennial review process. To expand access, the Emanuel Administration will provide pre-K education to all of the roughly 25,000 4-year old children who qualify for the federal free or reduced school lunch program, starting in School Year 2015-2016. The City is meeting this commitment by leveraging Head Start funds, investing more than $15 million in the Mayor’s 2015 budget, and nearly $17 million raised from private investors through a Social Impact Bond. To ensure that adequate classroom space is provided for the additional children, CPS and the State of Illinois are making a capital investment of nearly $14 million. Parents interested in enrolling their children in early learning programs should visit www.chicagoearlylearning.org for more information.