Memphis releases funds to ease pre-K crisis — but the fight isn’t over
Porter-Leath Early Childhood Academy – South Memphis students listen to Bryson Potts, better known as rapper NLE Choppa read his new children’s book “Cricket Stop Cricking” on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)
The City of Memphis released $8.5 million to prekindergarten organization First 8 Memphis. The funds could keep some classrooms afloat while city, county and First 8 officials remain in negotiations for a long-term funding plan.
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prekindergarten First 8 Memphis Lee Harris City of Memphis budgetLaura Testino
Laura Testino is an enterprise reporter on The Daily Memphian’s metro team who writes most often about how education policies shape the lives of children and families. She regularly contributes to coverage of breaking news events and actions of the Tennessee General Assembly. Testino’s journalism career in Memphis began six years ago at The Commercial Appeal, where she began chronicling learning disruptions associated with the pandemic, and continued with Chalkbeat, where she dug into education administration in Memphis. Her reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Times-Picayune, The Tuscaloosa News and USA Today.
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