Universal Pre-Kindergarten
In Massachusetts, 70% of 3- and 4-year-old children attend a formal early education and care program—more than any state in the nation except New Jersey. The challenge is to ensure that the programs they attend are high-quality, because, as decades of research document, only high-quality pre-kindergarten delivers lasting benefits, particularly for low-income children:

	The National Early Literacy Panel identifies pre-kindergarten as a critical intervention to help young children develop as readers.
	Investing in high-quality early education produces a 10-16% rate of return.
	Low-income children who participate in high-quality early education are 40% less likely to be held back a grade or need special education, 30% more likely to graduate from high school, twice as likely to go to college.
	Children who participate in high-quality early childhood education develop better language skills, score higher in school-readiness tests and have better social skills and fewer behavioral problems once they enter school.

Read more about the importance of investing in high-quality early education.

In Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) grant program provides resources to existing early education programs to help them meet and sustain quality standards.  Since its creation by the Legislature in the fiscal 2007 state budget, UPK has received $45.67 million in cumulative funding and benefits more than 6,000 children annually in cities and towns across the commonwealth.

In FY10, UPK grantees used their funding to support the professional development and compensation of staff, upgrade materials and curricula, and support families:
	Staff compensation (53%)
	Comprehensive services for children (11%)
	Professional development (7%)
	Education materials and technology supports (6%)
	Curricula and enrichment activities (5%)
	Family support (4%)

View the complete list of FY11 UPK Classroom Quality Grant recipients.

Read What Early Educators are Saying about UPK:

"UPK has allowed us to not only dream dreams of what we can do to stimulate children's curiosity and learning, but it also has given us the resources to actually make this happen in all our classrooms."
Diana Makhlouf, Director, Malden Early Education and Learning Program

"We are proud to be a chosen provider of Universal Pre-School. The support that Ellis Memorial receives through this funding initiative (UPK) has enriched our programs and the children and families we serve."
Leo Delaney, CEO, Ellis Memorial Children's Center       Read Leo's complete remarks.

"The teaching staff at the Garelick Early Learning Center are truly honored to be a part of such unique and creative vision in ensuring that all our children in the state of Massachusetts receive high-quality early education and care. We believe that by implementing the Universal Pre-K program, the state of Massachusetts is setting the bar high and rightly so. There is no better way to spend our dollars today for the betterment of our communities tomorrow."
Mary Varr, Child Care Director, Garelick Early Learning Center at the Hockomock Area YMCA