Baltimore is using $500,000 to get more kids into preschool, the city’s top dad-in-charge said Monday.

Mayor Brandon Scott, a father of small children, announced the new grant funding aimed at “closing the early childhood education gap” during a news conference at Arundel Elementary School in South Baltimore.

Scott said data clearly shows that kids who attend pre-K are more likely to read on grade level four years later and eventually graduate from high school.

“For neighborhoods that have faced intentional disinvestment for generations, like here in Cherry Hill, the problem is much greater,” Scott said. “Here in Baltimore, every year between 800 and 1,000 young people enter kindergarten with no prior educational experience, which makes it harder for them to keep up in school before they even have a chance to start.”

Parents may struggle to find space in affordable, high-quality programs or may not even know the benefits of sending kids to pre-K, Scott said. A recent report found there are spots for only half of the city’s kids under 5 at regulated early childhood education programs.

The grant money will be managed by The Fund for Educational Excellence, a city nonprofit that aims to boost equity in public schools. Grants will go to organizations that are already working to increase pre-K enrollment and improve early childhood education quality, said Roger Schulman, the fund’s president and CEO. He also wants to find more options for kids with special needs, which he said are currently lacking in the city.

The city wants to get the word out about Baltimore’s high-quality pre-K options. Schulman said that while the city school system has done a great job getting 4-year-olds into pre-K, he’d like to get more private programs interested in leveraging state money to open pre-K 3 classrooms.

Scott added that his planning department is looking into which vacant or underutilized properties in the city can be repurposed for pre-K and child care programs.

Scott’s announcement comes shortly after Baltimore City government set aside $1 million in shutdown aid to help essential federal employees and families receiving food benefits pay for child care through the end of the year.

Scott said parents like him and Council President Zeke Cohen “see this need with our own eyes.”

“We know how important those resources are in our community,” Scott said. “And we’re going to keep making that greatest impact possible, including during next year’s budget cycle.”

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.