- Governor Whitmer provided an update on Michigan’s free pre-K expansion, highlighting increased enrollment.
- Families in Grand Ledge are seeing the impact, with more children accessing free preschool.
- Watch the video above to see how it's impacting one Grand Ledge family.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
“You know what one you want?”
“Yeah.”
And Courtney Trudell is taking her twins to pick out the books they’ve been eyeing all week.
“You want that one, ok, let’s see, what was the other one? Didn’t you want two of them?” said Trudell.
An extra book here is something that Trudell says she's been able to afford, thanks to Michigan's pre-K for all expansion.
“I can go with the kids and pick out two books instead of putting all of that money towards tuition for preschool,” said Trudell.
The opportunity for more families to avoid out-of-pocket preschool costs is something Jennifer McCaffrey has been working to expand.
She works at the Eaton Regional Education Service Agency or RESA. Her job is director of early childhood.
“Saving that 10,000 to 12,000 dollars a year in child care costs or preschool expenses means that they can have a better lifestyle and save some money on that,” said McCaffery.
Here's why she's been working to expand.
Two years ago, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the plan to make pre-K free for every Michigan family.
She gave an update last week and said more than half of all 4-year-olds in Michigan are getting free pre-K, and overall enrollment in pre-K is at a record high.
"We're really proud to announce that enrollment in Michigan's free pre-K program has reached 47,500 which is the highest we've been in over a decade," said Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan Governor.
At Eaton RESA, they're part of the statewide Great Start Readiness Program.
And as enrollment has risen in the past two years due to the expansion, Eaton RESA has nearly doubled its capacity for free pre-K.
“Numbers went up to about 160 students across Eaton County. This year we've been able to serve 300 students,” said McCaffery.
And McCaffrey says they’re still looking to add even more free pre-K seats.
“We’re looking at adding partners through child care centers that may already be offering 4-year-old programming and then working with our local school districts to add more classrooms and serve more families,” said McCaffery.
Families just like Trudell’s.
“Having twins, that was a concern—the financial burden, with having two of them enrolled in preschool,” said Trudell.
But she told me this free pre-K is about a lot more than saving her family money.
“Not only the financial thing but also the emotional, for having COVID babies, because I had them at the peak of the pandemic. The social-emotional impact has been phenomenal on both of them. They’re just like night and day.” said Trudell.
Neighbors who have children who are going to be 4 years old before the end of the year can enroll for next year now.
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