SFC | Early Education for All Campaign

Key educational benchmarks			Worcester	Massachusetts
% of third graders who meet or exceed expectations in reading (Next-generation MCAS, 2019)			37%	56%
% of students graduating high school within four years			87.3%	89.0%
Early education and care
% of children under age 6 with all parents in the labor force			69.8%	73.5%
# of preschool-aged (3-5 yrs) children			6,832	224,901
% of 3- and 4-year-old children enrolled in an early education program (estimate only)			49.4%	59.5%
# of public schools with preschool classrooms			18	518
# of licensed center-based programs, pre-COVID*			36	2,892
# of licensed family child care providers, pre-COVID*			289	5,330
K-12 education¹
# of students enrolled in public school			23,986	911,465
% of public school students identified as economically disadvantaged			64.3%	36.6%
% of public school students whose first language is not English			58.7%	23.4%
% of public school students receiving special education services			21.2%	18.7%
% of public school kindergarten students attending full-day kindergarten			100.0%	93.8%

Child population	Birth-5		6-18
	Worcester	Massachusetts	Worcester	Massachusetts
# of children	14,134	442,592	29,465	1,074,498
% of children living below the poverty line²	26.7%	14.2%	27.1%	12.7%
% who are Black or African American	14.6%	7.4%	13.1%	7.3%
% who are Asian	6.2%	6.3%	6.8%	5.2%
% who are Hispanic or Latino	34.1%	16.9%	32.5%	13.9%
% who are White	38.9%	63.1%	42.4%	69.1%
% of students who are another race, or two or more races³	6.2%	6.2%	5.1%	4.4%


*	Community data calculated by SFC, 2016. Visit EEC for most recent local data. Massachusetts totals pre-COVID from early 2020. available in EEC Board Meeting, March 9, 2021.
1	Community data excludes charter and vocational schools. Economically disadvantaged is calculated based on a student's participation in one or more of the following state-administered programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); the Transitional Assistance for Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC); the Department of Children and Families' (DCF) foster care program; and MassHealth (Medicaid).
2	Includes children birth to 17. The 2017 federal poverty guideline for a family of four is $24,600 per year.
3	Includes American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.
Sources: Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, US Census 2010, ACS 15-19.