Sales tax revenues, matching donations to fund program

In his campaign, Democrat Ed FitzGerald linked economic development to human development, arguing that the region cannot succeed without educating its citizens. And so he promised to expand Cuyahoga County"s universal pre-kindergarten program.

Launched in 2007 as part of the private-public partnership Invest in Children, universal pre-kindergarten is designed to better prepare children for elementary school. Although 1,000 children currently participate in the program, plans are to serve 12,000 children by 2019.

FitzGerald has directed that about $3.5 million in sales taxes go to the program and that matching donations be sought from businesses and foundations.

He announced the plan in his state-of-the-county speech April 6, and by April 8, he had $1.3 million in commitments from the PNC and George Gund Foundations.

"We know that they work,” FitzGerald said April 11, standing in front of wriggly preschoolers in a West Side Ecumenical Ministry classroom. "We know that when it comes time to allocate scarce resources we have to put those resources to the extent we can in the child"s first five years of life.”

A Case Western Reserve University study showed universal pre-kindergarten has made a positive impact on the children it serves, FitzGerald said. Studies on similar programs nationwide show a long-term economic return of between 4 percent and 16 percent.

Four months into his term, FitzGerald has found money to expand universal pre-kindergarten, so we move this promise to In the Works.