High-quality pre-kindergarten: San Antonio, TX
MORE ABOUT THE STRATEGY USED IN THIS CASE STUDY Child care and early education programs
At-a-Glance
Summary
For years, San Antonio suffered from glaring and persistent racial divides in wealth and opportunity, which impacted individuals’ economic mobility and the broader city’s economic vitality. In 2011, then-Mayor Julian Castro convened the Brainpower Taskforce, a group of civic leaders focused on improving San Antonio’s economic trajectory. The group identified high-quality early childhood education as the investment that would have the greatest positive impact on the city’s future.
In November 2012, voters passed a ballot measure for a 1/8th cent sales tax increase to fund investments in early childhood education, eventually known as Pre-K 4 SA. Since its inception, Pre-K 4 SA has raised $247 million for early childhood education and directly served over 20,000 three- and four-year-olds.
Pre-K 4 SA operates in five model education centers serving approximately 2,250 children every year. The initiative supports another 5,000 children by awarding over $4 million in grant funding to other local early childhood education programs and providing over 15,000 hours of free professional development to early learning teachers and leaders throughout San Antonio.
Keys to the program’s success included strong sustained leadership from local policymakers and business leaders who built support for the sales tax increase; a commitment to investing in high-quality curricula, educators, and facilities to produce strong outcomes; and yearly independent evaluations to demonstrate results and the return on investment (ROI) to taxpayers.
Results and accomplishments
2,250
Each year, 2,250 children enroll in Pre-K 4 SA services. Over 20,000 children have been served since 2012.
82%
Eighty-two percent of children enrolled in Pre-K 4 SA come from low-income families.
$383 million
Pre-K 4 SA has raised over $383M for early childhood education since 2012.
A comprehensive boost to early childhood education: Pre-K 4 SA has significantly expanded access to affordable, high-quality early childhood education in San Antonio. The initiative directly serves 2,250 three- and four-year-olds per year, provides over $4 million annually to other providers to expand their early childhood education services, and offers specialized professional development for over 2,000 early childhood education teachers and leaders each year.
Improving student achievement: Third grade students who previously attended a Pre-K 4 SA education center scored an average of 3.8 percentile points higher on a standardized reading exam compared to a group of similar students in a comparison group. The effect was even greater in math, where Pre-K 4 SA students scored 4.5 percentile points higher than the comparison group.
Providing a measurable benefit to the public: An external evaluation of Pre-K 4 SA found that the benefits of its educational centers significantly exceeded their costs. Researchers estimated that every dollar spent on Pre-K 4 SA resulted in approximately $1.56 in benefits to society.
Receiving strong public backing: After initially being approved with 53 percent of the vote in 2012, the sales tax that funds Pre-K 4 SA received 73 percent of the vote in its reauthorizing referendum in November 2020. Since its inception, the Pre-K for SA has raised $383 million for early childhood education in San Antonio.
Overview
What was the challenge?
Confronting inequalities in opportunity: San Antonio had long been recognized as one of the most income-segregated cities in the nation, with glaring and persistent racial divides in wealth and opportunity.
Recognizing the role of public policy: Local leadership increasingly recognized that the city’s opportunity and wealth divides were due in large part to a history of discriminatory public policies, like redlining and school segregation.
Low high school graduation rates: The city had experienced low high school graduation rates for years, leading to low levels of upward economic mobility for individuals and undermining the economic vitality of the city.
Limited access to high-quality early childhood education: Rates of enrollment in early childhood education were low, with few affordable options available to low- to middle-income San Antonio families.
What was the solution?
Convening key stakeholders: In 2010, following an intensive community visioning process, then-Mayor Julian Castro convened a group of civic leaders to determine which investments would most improve San Antonio’s educational and economic trajectory.
Focusing on early childhood: The group, known as the Brainpower Taskforce, spent a year comparing alternatives and ultimately decided on investing in high-quality early childhood education.
Securing public funding: To fund the initiative, the city placed a 1/8th cent sales tax on the ballot for November 2012. The measure passed with 53 percent of the vote.
Improving early childhood offerings: With funding from the 1/8th cent sales tax, Pre-K 4 SA was positioned to provide high-quality, full-day prekindergarten to 2,000 lower-income families across the city. Revenue from the sales tax would also be used to enhance and expand other early childhood education offerings across the city.
What were the key components of the program’s design?
Education Centers: Pre-K 4 SA operates five Education Centers in San Antonio. The Education Centers serve as “models,” offering high-quality early childhood education to approximately 2,250 students per year.
Shared Services: Pre-K 4 SA heads a network of other local early childhood education providers. Through this network, Pre-K 4 SA provides technical assistance to improve the quality of services offered by their partners. The technical assistance can include support with marketing and communications, administrative operations, applying to funding opportunities, and more. Pre-K 4 SA also provides competitive grants to outside early childhood education programs, with the aim of increasing access to and the quality of services.
Professional Learning: Pre-K 4 SA offers high-quality professional development opportunities to educators at partner schools and child development centers. The organization employs 20 specialists to provide professional coaching, lead workshops, and support individuals interested in earning a Child Development Associate certification.
Family Engagement: At Education Centers, Pre-K 4 SA’s Family Engagement Team partners with educators and other school staff to meaningfully engage families in their students’ education. In partnership with other community-based organizations, Pre-K 4 SA offers families a range of support services, such as adult education classes and workshops on nutrition and early literacy.
Who were the key stakeholders?
Students’ families: For Pre-K 4 SA, family engagement is central to the mission. At Education Centers, parents have the opportunity to assume school leadership and volunteer opportunities, including as part of a parents/guardians’ advisory committee.
Early education providers: Pre-K 4 SA partners with other early childhood education providers to improve access to and the quality of child care and Pre-K in San Antonio.
Voters: Pre-K 4 SA is primarily funded by a 1/8th cent sales tax, which voters approved in both 2012 and 2020.
Local civic and government leaders: Local leaders have been vital in developing, launching, and sustaining Pre-K 4 SA. Key early leaders included then-Mayor Julian Castro; Sheryl Sculley, former City Manager of San Antonio; General Josue Robles, former CEO of USAA; and Charles Butt, Chairman of HEB Groceries. Over time, Pre-K 4 SA has maintained close relationships with local elected leaders and forged new partnerships with local business leaders, like Peter Holt, CEO of HOLT-Cat and Spurs Sports and Entertainment.
What factors drove success?
Strong support from local political leaders: Strong leadership from then-Mayor Julian Castro was essential in launching the initial community visioning process, bringing civic leaders together, deciding to invest in early childhood education, and building political will for the 1/8th-cent sales tax.
Providing a high-quality education: Commitment to using evidence-based curricula, hiring high-quality teachers, and building top-notch facilities has produced strong outcomes and strengthened public enthusiasm for the initiative.
Taking a comprehensive approach: In addition to the strength of its educational offerings, Pre-K 4 SA offers families a range of support services and community building opportunities. These offerings reflect the organization’s understanding that educational outcomes are impacted by children’s experiences outside of the classroom.
Commitment to continuous improvement: Yearly independent evaluations of the initiative have enabled Pre-K 4 SA to monitor and track its progress, revise and continuously improve its offerings to meet child and parent needs, and demonstrate results to the general public.
What were the major obstacles?
Overcoming early doubts: During the formation of Pre-K 4 SA, a subset of local stakeholders expressed doubts about the program’s model. For example, some area school districts raised questions about creating education programs outside of the local school systems. At the same time, some business leaders argued that the cost of early childhood education should be the responsibility of parents, not the broader community.
Securing funding: In order to fund Pre-K 4 SA, voters needed to approve an increase in the sales tax. In 2012, the measure passed by a slim margin (53.5% in favor), but support increased over time, and the second measure in 2020 passed by a larger margin (73% in favor).
Fostering relationships with other ECE providers: Pre-K 4 SA disrupted the status quo of early childhood education in San Antonio. However, the organization cannot achieve its goal of creating an equitable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and care system for every child alone. As such, Pre-K 4 SA aims to be a supportive partner to other local ECE programs. For example, the organization began offering competitive grants to other early childhood education providers to assist them with expanding access or improving the quality of their services.
Timeline
Informed by the results of SA 2020, a large-scale community visioning process, Mayor Castro brings together many of San Antonio’s most prominent civic and business leaders to decide on specific educational investments to improve the city’s educational and workforce trajectory.
After over a year of comparing potential investments, the Brainpower Taskforce decides that investments in early childhood education will provide the largest social and economic return on public investment.
San Antonio leverages a state statute allowing municipal governments to levy a local sales tax to support certain types of workforce development strategies, including early childhood education. The initiative is supported by key leaders in business, public school districts, higher education, and community organizations. 53.5 percent of voters approve the 1/8th-cent sales tax measure in the November 2012 election.
City Manager Sheryl Sculley and Deputy City Manager Peter Zanoni lead a team of city officials and Pre-K 4 SA board members to secure and renovate the two initial education facilities, hire leadership and teachers, and launch an outreach and student recruitment campaign.
To ensure high-quality implementation, Pre-K 4 SA begins serving students at only two Education Centers in its first year. The initiative’s North and South Education centers launch first, serving a total of 700 students. The following year, the East and West Centers open, enabling Pre-K 4 SA to serve a total of 1,500 students.
Using funding from the 1/8th-cent sales tax, Pre-K 4 SA invites public, private, and parochial schools and licensed childcare facilities to apply for funding to enhance, expand, or create early childhood programs. These grants provide over $4 million per year.
The initiative's four centers serve approximately 500 four-year-olds each, for a total of 2,000 served yearly.
After a rigorous evaluation process, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) awards Pre-K 4 SA its Early Learning Program Accreditation.
The long-term impact study, conducted by the Urban Education Institute at the University of Texas at San Antonio, finds that Pre-K 4 SA produced positive academic outcomes in the first year of the program. Students had stronger STAAR exam scores on third grade reading and math, better attendance, and less need for special education services than children that attended public pre-kindergarten.
The study, conducted by Westat, the University of Pennsylvania, and Teachers College at Columbia University, finds that Pre-K 4 SA generates $1.56 for every $1 spent. After subtracting the costs of the program, Pre-K 4 SA returned over $56 million in benefits to San Antonio in its first eight years.
In 2019, Pre-K 4 SA entered into a partnership with Edgewood Independent School District to develop and operate a model prekindergarten through 2nd grade program at Gardendale Elementary School. Edgewood is a chronically under-resourced school district with a history of underperformance. The purpose of the partnership is to demonstrate that Pre-K 4 SA’s proven practices can be implemented in public elementary schools. The Gardendale Early Learning Program has become Pre-K 4 SA’s fifth Education Center and serves as an exemplar of early education through second grade.
An overwhelming 73 percent of voters support the reauthorization of the 1/8th-cent sales tax that funds Pre-K 4 SA.
Pre-K 4 SA opens enrollment into its Education Centers to 3-year-olds.
In 2025, Pre-K 4 SA is scheduled to move into a new education center building, which will replace its current South Center building. The new building will be Pre-K 4 SA’s first to include infant-toddler classrooms.
Implementation process
How were community members engaged?
Starting with community input: In 2010, the Mayor’s Office held SA2020, a community-wide visioning process that relied on over 6,000 community members to set policy priorities and goals to address economic disparities. Community members at this forum identified education as a key priority, which guided the establishment of the Brainpower Task Force and subsequent creation of Pre-K 4 SA.
Prioritizing family engagement: Pre-K 4 SA employs a dedicated Family Engagement Team, which works with other Education Center staff to build meaningful relationships with students’ families. In partnership with community-based organizations, Pre-K 4 SA organizes workshops, classes, and other events for families.
Involving families in school leadership: Pre-K 4 SA families can participate in school leadership and volunteer opportunities at Education Centers. For example, Parents as Partners, an advisory committee, consists of parents and guardians with children in Pre-K 4 SA Education Centers.
How did racial equity considerations factor in?
Making an early investment to promote equity: Pre-K 4 SA is one of San Antonio’s most significant investments in promoting racial equity in education. Approximately 89 percent of the children who attend Pre-K 4 SA are children of color and a similar proportion qualify for free pre-K due to income or other eligibility criteria. The organization largely reflects the students, with 90 percent of staff identifying as people of color.
Targeting grants and training to outside ECE providers: As Pre-K 4 SA allocates grant funding and professional learning opportunities to outside early childhood education providers, it intentionally targets those that serve under-resourced children and families.
What were the key activities leading up to and following launch?
Identifying a solution to inequities: In 2010, then-Mayor Julian Castro launched SA 2020, a community-wide visioning process to help set priorities in rectifying decades-long disparities. San Antonio citizens overwhelmingly identified education as their top priority.
Focusing on early childhood education: Mayor Castro formed the Brainpower Taskforce, a group of business and education leaders tasked with deciding on which investments would most significantly improve San Antonio’s educational trajectory. After a year of studying best practices and evidence-based programs in other cities, the taskforce determined that investing in early childhood education would produce the strongest results.
Creating the infrastructure for Pre-K 4 SA: After the 1/8th-cent sales tax referendum passed, the City of San Antonio established the San Antonio Early Childhood Education Municipal Development Corporation, the entity responsible for the implementation of Pre-K 4 SA. The Corporation’s Board of Directors were appointed by the Mayor and City Council in January 2013.
Dedicating city staff to implementation: Then-City Manager Sheryl Sculley and then-Deputy City Manager Peter Zanoni led a breakneck, 9-month effort to launch the initiative in less than a year. Major tasks include securing and renovating the two initial education facilities, hiring leadership for the initiative, hiring 36 teachers and 36 assistant teachers, and launching an outreach and enrollment campaign.
Opening Education Centers: The first two education centers, the North and South campuses, opened in August 2013. Two more, the East and West centers, opened in August 2014, with a fifth opened in 2023.
How was this approach funded?
Leveraging taxing authority: Texas state law allows municipalities to create publicly supported development corporations to advance workforce development goals. Enabled by this statute, the City of San Antonio levies a 1/8th-cent sales tax to fund Pre-K 4 SA.
Strong revenue from the tax levy: Initial projections estimated the 1/8th-cent sales tax would raise $29 million in revenue annually. In upcoming years, the tax is expected to raise over $50 million per year, representing the vast majority of the organization’s funding.
Partnerships with area school districts: Through partnerships with local school districts, Pre-K 4 SA also receives limited funding from the state government intended for pre-kindergarten.
Relationships with philanthropic partners: Pre-K 4 SA also receives additional support from private foundations. Typically, these grants are used to support special projects and initiatives.
How has the approach been measured and refined?
Building in program assessment: Pre-K 4 SA was designed to incorporate yearly, independent program assessments. Every year, Westat, Inc., the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) and Rutgers University conduct evaluations that measure cognitive, mathematics, literacy, and oral language outcomes and track the physical and social-emotional development progress of students.
Surveying families to assess their experience: Westat also surveys parents and guardians of Pre-K 4 SA children about their participation and perceptions of the program, changes in their confidence and behavior as parents/guardians, and plans for their children’s kindergarten year.
Committing to continuous improvement: Pre-K 4 SA leverages the regular program evaluation and survey data to guide programmatic improvements.
Demonstrating impact: The external evaluations of Pre-K 4 SA show its positive impact on students’ academic and attendance outcomes. By being able to demonstrate these results, Pre-K 4 SA can make the case to the broader community that it is an excellent investment of public funds.
Shifting to serve children birth to age three: From the start, Pre-K 4 SA has focused on improving outcomes for four-year-olds. As the organization has achieved success with this age group, it has developed plans to replicate its work with younger children. In particular, Pre-K 4 SA aims to eliminate quality childcare deserts, provide technical and financial support to childcare providers, and provide greater training for childcare workers.