Since 2020, Salem’s public school district has made strides in ensuring that 4-year-olds in the city have access to equal preschool options before they enter kindergarten.

Thanks to state grant programs, Salem has partnered with five privately-run child care centers, been able to subsidize some tuition for those centers, and implemented a shared pre-K curriculum with those centers to ensure that children are getting the same, quality education.

But, even with the partnerships, the city doesn’t have enough seats to meet the demand for preschool. The slots within the public school district are allocated by a lottery system, leaving some children on a waiting list and many families to pay full preschool tuition.

Establishing universal pre-K for children in Gateway cities has been a priority of Gov. Maura Healey’s since she announced the “Gateway to Pre-K” initiative in January 2024. At the center of the proposal was a lofty goal: By the end of 2026, every family of a 4-year-old in the state’s 26 Gateway Cities will have the opportunity – at low or no cost – to enroll their child in a preschool program that prepares them for kindergarten.

The legislature has so far allocated about $60 million for the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (CPPI), the main state grant program through which universal pre-K expansion is funded. Healey’s fiscal 2027 budget asks for another $32 million for CPPI with a “pledge to achieve universal pre-kindergarten funding in all Gateway Cities this year.” But seven of the 26 cities have not applied for funds through the CPPI program. And, child care providers in cities that are participating say that while CPPI funding can be used for tuition relief, it does not cover every child fully. At the same time, other state programs – like Child Care Financial Assistance, which offers subsidies based on income level and family size – are struggling to serve all eligible families.

“There are many families that are paying … tuition because the CPPI grant money doesn’t have that full reach,” assistant superintendent of Salem Public Schools Kate Carbone said. “We target the resources from the grant to the families with the highest need, but the funds don’t take care of everybody.”

Early education advocates like Amy O’Leary, executive director of the nonprofit Strategies for Children, agree.

“Do we have enough money right now in the system to fully fund spaces for every 4-year-old in every Gateway City? We’re not there yet,” O’Leary said. “But the approach that we’re taking I think is our best shot at figuring that out.”