Building a Universal Preschool System Around Head Start: Guiding an Equitable Pandemic Recovery
The COVID-19 pandemic has comprehensively disrupted life around the world, including for our youngest learners. But as we approach a possible end to this particular crisis, we should not strive to return to the inadequate and inequitable pre-pandemic normal in our early learning and education systems. President Biden recently announced the outlines of his American Families Plan (AFP), a series of investments aimed at supporting children and families from cradle to career. This brief focuses on one element of the AFP—universal preschool—and describes how, alongside other elements like quality child care, child tax credits, and paid family leave, it can bridge opportunity gaps and promote healthy, positive outcomes for young learners. Specifically, the brief unpacks the argument for making Head Start the anchor of a new universal system to ensure an equitable, mixed delivery, high-quality, and comprehensive system that optimizes existing funding streams and coordinates new ones to meet this unique moment in history.
Suggested citation:
Meek, S.E., Williams, C., Bostic, B., Iruka, I.U., Blevins, D., Catherine, E., Alexander, B.L. (August, 2021). Building a Universal Preschool System Around Head Start: Guiding an Equitable Pandemic Recovery. The Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University. Retrieved from: https://cep.asu.edu/resources/building-universal-preschool