Tucson is considering ending financial support for a low-income preschool program amid a dire budget crunch.
The cut was put forward in a presentation on the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget at Tuesday’s city council study session.
If it moves ahead, several preschool programs at Amphitheater Unified School District and Sunnyside Unified School District, which are funded by Tucson, could be at risk.
The scholarships were created by the Pima County Board of Supervisors in the spring of 2021 to help low-income families access early childhood education. The county provided most of the funding but local cities including Tucson, Marana and Oro Valley also contribute.
Research shows preschool access is a strong indicator of future academic achievement for children, but it’s often cost-prohibitive for many working class families.
To qualify, families cannot make more than 300% of the federal poverty level. For a family of two, that is an annual income of $59,160 or less to qualify for PEEPs.
This year, 1,411 children ages 3 to 5 received assistance from PEEPs. In 2024, 75% of the children participating belonged to a racial or ethnic minority, and 21% were dual-language learners.
In the most recent fiscal year, Tucson contributed $750,000 from the general fund that helped support the cost of five school district preschool classrooms: three at Amphitheater Unified School District and two at Sunnyside Unified School District which together serve 90 students.
City officials have said they foresee budget cuts amid the federal funding uncertainty, the loss of revenue from a state level flat tax and Tucson voters rejecting a city-proposed sales tax this spring.
“I cannot stress enough how much damage the Doug Ducey flat tax is doing,” said Mayor Regina Romero.
Tucson had lost $40 million so far because of the flat tax, which took effect in 2023, she said. “A flat tax on income really favors corporations and the wealthy in Arizona.”
Get involved
• Read City manager Tim Thomure’s full budget proposal
• Contact the mayor and council council
• The next City Council meeting will take place at Tuesday, May 6, 5:30 p.m., at City Hall, 255 W. Alameda. The agendas will be posted here.
In a statement to Arizona Luminaria, Romero said it was painful to see cuts to working families, but that federal rescue dollars were no longer available.
“Our children’s education should not fall solely on our cities and counties because of the lack of investment [by] the state and federal government,” she said.
Council member Kevin Dahl said at Tuesday’s meeting he hoped the city could find a way to keep the preschool scholarships.
“I really like PEEPs. The actual impact will be to working families, low-income working families,” he said. “There’s incredible learning going on at that place.”
PEEPs program has had high marks since 2021
There are three main types of preschool the program funds: free school district preschool classes, Head Start programming and individual scholarships at preschools considered high quality.
In the first year, PEEPs helped 856 children access free preschool; in the second year the program served 1,356 children; and in its third year, PEEPs served 1,923 children, a 29% increase from the second year.
This year, its fourth, PEEPs has already seen a reduction in participating preschool providers because of pandemic funding cuts. With less funding, there was a 17% decrease in the number of children receiving assistance, say county officials.
The program has also helped invest in preschool programs considered highly rated, from 199 when the program began to 304 by the time of the 2024 annual report.
Parent surveys have shown the preschool scholarship program to be consistently popular, even as its funding remains uncertain.
In January 2023, Pima County contracted with United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona to ask parents their opinion of the program. In 500 questionnaires, more than 95% of parents said they were “highly satisfied” with their child’s improvement in language skills, social skills, emotional skills and motor skills.
In Tucson’s online budget survey ahead of the fiscal year 2026 budget, 51.9% of respondents said funding early education was important to include in a future budget.
Budget process to continue in May and June
The original funding for PEEPs in 2021 came from the Pima County Board of Supervisors’ allocation of $30.2 million from the Federal American Recovery Plan Act to last four years. The first three years of the program also included more than $3.2 million from Tucson and the towns of Marana and Oro Valley.
The county has requested the full amount for Fiscal Year 2026, but the city’s draft budget doesn’t include that request.
“No funding for PEEPs is included in the City Manager’s Recommended Budget,” the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026 says.
In the coming months, the county will make several changes to how the PEEPs program is funded.
First, the Pima County library taxing district will take over funding the portion of the PEEPs program that came from federal relief funds. The county also approved a contract to allocate some of its remaining pandemic relief funding to provide more scholarships through September 2025.
Even if Tucson withdraws its support of the PEEPs program, there are some proposals for state-level support, according to Jan Lesher’s March 2025 memo. Gov. Katie Hobbs recently proposed state-level funds for childcare subsidies, and several bills at the state level that would offer childcare assistance have also been introduced.
“We need buy-in from multiple levels of government to ensure our kiddos get the education they deserve. I hope that Tucson can find $750K to $1M to continue their commitment to this crucial early childhood education effort,” said Pima County Supervisor Matt Heinz.
The city will hold a public hearing on the budget in May and vote on a final budget in June. The fiscal year begins July 1.
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