Council committee hears broad early‑learning testimony; officials flag access gaps for three‑year‑olds and teacher pay concerns

Baltimore City Council leaders and a wide panel of state and local officials outlined progress and persistent gaps in early learning during a lengthy committee hearing on LO250040.

“Most of us that are sitting up here are parents,” Council President Nick J. Cohen said in opening remarks, arguing that expanding high‑quality pre‑K is central to long‑term educational and economic goals. He and other council members framed the hearing as a step toward implementing the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future in Baltimore.

Key findings and announcements

- State Preschool Development Grant: Jenna Smith of the Maryland State Department of Education said MSDE was awarded a one‑year $14.75 million preschool development grant to advance mixed‑delivery capacity, unify the early‑childhood system, expand access and pilot a centralized pre‑K enrollment portal. MSDE also described a $500,000 congressional earmark to support portal development.

- City coverage for four‑year‑olds: City Schools’ Crystal Francis said the district now offers approximately 4,100 pre‑K seats for four‑year‑olds and is operating a centralized enrollment system; leaders said the city is close to meeting tier‑1 coverage for four‑year‑olds but coverage for three‑year‑olds remains very limited.

- Head Start scale and services: Dr. Deborah Brooks (Mayor’s Office) and Shannon Burroughs Campbell (Baltimore City Head Start) described Head Start’s whole‑family approach and said five federal grantees operate approximately 2,000 Head Start slots and 300 Early Head Start slots in Baltimore, offering health screenings, mental‑health supports, nutrition and family services.

- Provider and workforce pressures: Multiple providers and the Baltimore Teachers Union underscored the financial and administrative burdens of meeting state quality standards. India Ivory, an educational director at a community childcare program, urged predictable reimbursements and timely funding; union president Diamond Tay Brown called for stipends, dedicated pre‑K paraprofessionals in every classroom, and better compensation to retain educators.

Federal context: Casey Peaks of the Center for American Progress warned that federal policy shifts have introduced uncertainty for states and providers. Peaks cited recent administrative actions—including pauses in some child‑care draws and proposed regulatory changes—that added administrative burden and delayed funds for some states, increasing pressure on local systems.

Enrollment and mixed delivery: Panelists stressed that mixed delivery (a combination of public‑school and community‑based pre‑K) is essential to expand capacity, but they warned that private and home‑based providers need targeted supports—technical assistance, transitional funding and training—to meet quality requirements. The Fund for Educational Excellence said modest philanthropic pilots helped convert provider readiness into public seats and urged a stronger citywide enrollment campaign and a local subsidy to cover wraparound (before/after) care.

Questions from council members focused on several recurring issues: how to coordinate before/after wraparound care, how to ensure bilingual and culturally responsive providers, and whether state funding levels and eligibility thresholds leave some families just above subsidy cutoffs and priced out of care. Several members asked MSDE and city agencies to prioritize a real‑time, family‑facing enrollment directory and to coordinate outreach to families who still arrive at kindergarten with no prior formal care.

Why it matters: Panelists emphasized two linked facts: early childhood investment produces long‑term social and economic returns, and current capacity and funding rules create gaps—especially for three‑year‑olds, for infant/toddler care and for provider financial sustainability. The committee repeatedly returned to workforce compensation as a gating constraint on expansion: providers cannot implement mixed delivery at scale without stable funding that covers staff wages and operating costs.

What’s next: MSDE, the city and local philanthropic partners signaled plans to continue expanding provider technical assistance, to build enrollment infrastructure with PDG support and to study family preferences and enrollment patterns. Committee members requested follow up on PDG implementation, the design of any local subsidy to support wraparound care, and additional data on enrollment patterns for three‑year‑olds.