Hellobee Boards

Preschool is only free if you qualify for vouchers based on your income. LO is going to universal pre-k in September and it's free regardless of income. We were so excited to pay our last tuition check for her.

There are no free or fully public preschools in my area. The district offers a low(er) cost program which is a combination combines mainstream/special needs children, but it only runs for a few hours each day. It's a great program (and an incredible service) but not practical for working families.

Our district has free public Pre-K but we don't qualify for it.

@Kemma: That's awesome - nothing like that where I live. Two of my friends who live in Britain and Germany were having a conversation about their effective tax rates and who gets more for it. Paid maternity leave, universal pre-k, health care... My effective tax rate with local, state, and federal taxes in the U.S. was practically the same, and I was like um, I get drones, and a carried interest loophole in the zero probability event that I ever have a hedge fund? I am super grateful to live in the U.S. and we have a much more functional system than many places in the world, but still it was a pretty depressing conversation from the U.S. perspective!

Yes my city (next to NYC) offers free universal pre-k 3 and pre-k 4 (8:30-230) for its residents regardless of income. As our area has become more popular, demand has increased and there is always a wait list but they manage to get all kids off of it at some point. Some of the locations offer (paid) before and after care.