Connecticut to enhance pre-K access with federal grant

The city of Bridgeport was recently awarded federal grant money to fund 180 new prekindergarten spaces for low-income children and improve pre-K programs for another 90 children.

The $12.5 million in discretionary federal funding will add pre-K spaces for 428 children across Connecticut. The money also will go toward improving 284 existing pre-K spaces in the state. The students are 4-year-olds who live at or below 200 percent of the poverty line in 14 communities: Bridgeport, Derby, East Haven, Griswold, Groton, Hamden, Hebron, Killingly, Manchester, Naugatuck, Seymour, Torrington, Vernon and Wolcott.

U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, both Democrats, were expected to join Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch and Bridgeport Public Schools Superintendent Fran Rabinowitz to celebrate the announcement.

The grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services.

“As a parent, and mayor of the state’s largest city, I’ve seen firsthand how tough it is for kids who don’t have access to quality early childhood education,” Finch said in a statement. “And research is clear: If kids aren’t reading at the level they should be by third grade, they’re less likely to graduate. That”™s why this is such great news for hundreds of Bridgeport kids. It will help ensure more kids are ready to one day compete for jobs in the future.”