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In November 2021, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) approved $26 million for the expansion of prekindergarten (pre-k) partnerships.
A pre-k partnership is a collaboration between a school district or charter school and one or more quality-rated* child care programs to provide high-quality care and education to eligible three- and four-year-old children. Partners can establish a formal or informal partnership.
In a formal pre-k partnership, eligible children are dually enrolled in public school pre-k and TWC's Child Care Services program, most often receiving their pre-k instruction and wraparound care (the hours before and after pre-k instruction) at the child care center. These partnerships allow child care programs and school districts/charter schools to provide children continuity in care and education, and better support the needs of working families. The teacher of the pre-k partnership classroom must meet certain requirements, such as having a bachelor’s degree, and can be employed by either the school district or the child care program.
For information on additional requirements, please refer to Texas Education Code §29.153-29.1544.
Child care programs and school districts/charter schools may sustain formal pre-k partnerships through a couple of funding streams. TWC’s Child Care Services program covers the cost of wraparound care for eligible children in pre-k partnership classrooms. In addition, school districts/charter schools may pass through state funding (Average Daily Attendance/Early Education Allotment) to the child care program to assist with the costs associated with pre-k instruction.
In addition, TWC will provide eligible child care programs awards of up to $25,000 to assist with start-up costs for each new pre-k partnership classroom.
For more information about potential funding, visit the Texas Education Agency (TEA) Early Learning Partnerships website.
*Child care programs must meet at least one of the five quality criteria in Texas Education Code §29.153(g) to be considered for a formal pre-k partnership.
In informal partnerships, a school district/charter school and a child care program share resources and information, such as professional development opportunities, school-readiness expectations, and parent engagement activities. In informal partnerships, children are not dually enrolled in public school pre-k and a child care program; therefore, no state funding is passed through from the school district/charter school to the child care program. However, informal partnerships can be a great first-step towards establishing a formal pre-k partnership.
To be eligible for public school pre-k, a child must be 3 or 4 years of age on or before September 1 of the current school year and meet at least one of the following eligibility criteria:
For more information about pre-k eligibility requirements, please refer to Texas Education Code §29.153(b).
Pre-k partnerships can provide numerous benefits to families, child care programs, and school districts and open-enrollment charter school networks.
For families, pre-k partnerships can provide:
For child care programs, pre-k partnerships can provide:
For school districts or charter school networks, pre-k partnerships can provide:
The newly established Pre-K Partnership Team at TWC is dedicated to supporting the development of pre-k partnerships in Texas. This includes, but is not limited to, conducting outreach to potential partners to gauge interest, matching potential partners, and supporting partners through negotiations.
To learn more about pre-k partnership opportunities and how TWC can support the development of a partnership that is tailored to the needs of your program, please send an email to prekpartnerships@twc.texas.gov. We encourage child care programs and school districts/charter schools interested in pursuing partnership opportunities to complete the online interest form.
For more information about how TWC is supporting pre-k partnerships, see WD Letter 09-22 “Prekindergarten Partnerships” and TA Bulletin 300 “Prekindergarten Partnerships” issued on July 1, 2022, and WD Letter 02-20 “Prekindergarten Public-Private Partnerships and Wraparound Child Care” issued on January 8, 2020.
TWC and TEA hosted a Pre-K Partnership Summit in the spring of 2021 for Local Workforce Development Boards to learn how they can work together in their regions to support and expand pre-k partnerships. Some of the resources shared during the Summit are below:
For more information, please email: