High-quality pre-kindergarten forms the bridge between child care and school. For this reason, strong pre-kindergarten policies and programs are built through the collaborative efforts of various groups and stakeholders, including public and private pre-k providers, early education advocates, K-12 schools, community-based organizations and businesses. 

The Center for Public Education has worked in partnership with state school board associations in Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio and Texas to engage school board leadership in support of pre-k. More recently, CPE has entered into a coalition of major national K-12 organizations to promote making pre-k part of the federal education agenda.  The lessons of these efforts have made us more effective messengers, partners and advocates. By sharing these stories, we hope to guide other association and education groups that are looking to pursue similar efforts in their states as well as nationally.