Multnomah County staff update commissioners on Preschool for All progress, funding challenges and advisory structure

Multnomah County staff told the Board of Commissioners on Monday that the county’s Preschool for All program has expanded rapidly since voters approved the measure in 2020, but that reaching universal preschool will require continued seat growth, workforce investments, facilities funding and choices about tax indexing.

The briefing, delivered by interim Preschool and Early Learning director Rachel Pearl, strategy and communications manager Brooke Chilton Timmons and Senior Policy Advisor Steven Herrera, gave commissioners updated seat counts, a model for projecting future need, and a timeline for advisory committees that will produce recommendations on program funding and implementation.

County staff said Preschool for All (PFA) will have about 3,800 seats this year, more than 1,300 of which are newly created since the program began. “This year, we will get to 3,800 preschool for all seats across the county, and more than 1,300 of those are new seats created since the launch of the program,” Rachel Pearl said. Staff reported that, with other publicly funded seats included, the county currently serves more than 40% of its 3- and 4-year-olds through publicly funded preschool.

Why it matters: Commissioners were briefed on the program’s operating model and on a multiyear financial forecast showing that the county’s dedicated savings—used to cover the gap between early revenues and rising expenses as PFA expands—will be increasingly drawn down. Staff told the board that dedicated savings spending will grow to nearly $100…