Pennsylvania Budget Funds $75 Million Pre-K Program

After lagging behind other states on preschool education for years, Pennsylvania has taken a large step toward expanding access to such programs.

A budget agreement reached in July between Gov. Edward G. Rendell and legislative leaders provides $75 million for an initiative called Pre-K Counts , which will serve some 11,000 more 3- and 4-year-olds than are now covered by state-funded programs.

Improving early-childhood education has been a priority for the Democratic governor, but it took until his second term, which began in January, to pass the kind of program preschool advocates have wanted, said Joan Benso, the president and chief executive officer of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, a group...