In June, the city of Memphis, Tennessee, lost funding for 1,000 pre-K slots due to an expiring federal grant.
Under pressure to invest in education, Mayor Jim Strickland announced the city would commit $6 million toward pre-K funding, though that amount would not completely offset the lost federal funds.
Sadly, the tenuous nature of federal grants affecting vital services for children is not uncommon. Instead of passively accepting the void in federal leadership, cities such as Memphis are finding innovative ways to bring together the public, private and nonprofit sectors to finance and expand needed services for children, and increasing pressure on local officials to reinvest in child services.
