Giving Toledo hope

When Wade Kapszukiewicz ran for mayor in 2017 he added what he called a “moonshot” plank to his campaign platform. That lofty goal that would require communitywide support to meet? Free universal pre-kindergarten for all Toledo 4-year-olds.

And since Mr. Kapszukiewicz was elected, there have been plenty of challenges to creating that universal pre-K program.

Ottawa Hills native and philanthropist Pete Kadens was an early believer in the idea, launching HOPE Toledo and pledging millions of his own money in 2019 to fund not only universal pre-kindergarten, but mentoring programs and college tuition for Toledo public school graduates. Mr. Kadens made the fund-raising rounds in town, hoping to entice others to join him in contributing.

It was disappointing then when more big-money donors did not step up to bring a full universal pre-K program to fruition. And in 2020 voters rejected Issue 1, the income-tax hike that would have funded pre-K along with street projects, police and fire services, and other programs.

Believers pressed on, though, and HOPE Toledo launched a demonstration project with 130 children this year with help from ProMedica and Toledo Public Schools.

Now, city leaders aim to invest $20 million more with money from the American Rescue Plan along with contributions from ProMedica and The Andersons. That will allow the program to expand to serve 500 children in the next school year and about 1,000 children over a three-year period.

This is meaningful progress toward the universal pre-K that Toledo needs.

Among the best anti-poverty measures a city can embrace is to improve the education its children get. And improving schools, particularly in Toledo, means giving children an earlier start. Three and 4-year-olds in affluent suburbs are exposed to reading and writing at an early age. They often attend quality preschool programs that aren’t available for too many Toledo children.

More than 80 percent of Toledo’s incoming kindergartners are not prepared to start school. One-quarter of them are hungry, and in 2017 the school district had more homeless students than any other in Ohio. They are behind their peers before they even start. As TPS’ graduation rates and state report-card failures demonstrate, they often never catch up.

Meanwhile, research from cities that have already created universal pre-K programs shows that sending all 4-year-olds to quality preschool programs delivers higher graduation rates, fewer discipline problems, fewer children repeating grades, and better job readiness.

Universal pre-kindergarten may have always been a moonshot of an idea. But it also is a smart investment for Toledo.

Incremental progress toward expanding pre-K — albeit slowly — is good news. It is the momentum that this idea needs. Now is the time for Toledo’s business and community leaders to embrace universal pre-K for the opportunity that it is.