Multnomah County expects its universal preschool program to see a significant boost in enrollment, starting next fall. On Thursday morning, the county announced plans to offer more than 7,400 Preschool for All seats to early education providers for the 2026-27 school year. If providers take the county up on the offer, it will nearly double Preschool for All’s current enrollment capacity of roughly 3,800 seats, placing the program in a strong position to meet its goal of universal preschool access by 2030. 

The county’s announcement should come as much-needed good news for Preschool for All, which has faced heightened scrutiny in recent months. The program, which was approved by nearly two-thirds of county voters in 2020, is funded through a tax on high-earning residents. The tax has raked in more than initial projections predicted, but the county has been slow to get money out the door, despite significant demand for preschool seats. 

Preschool for All has also been targeted amid a larger backlash to local taxes, which some Portland business leaders complain are driving high earners and businesses out of town. Earlier this year, Governor Tina Kotek joined the chorus of Preschool for All critics, expressing concern that the tax was contributing to an exodus of wealthy Portlanders, making the city less competitive. Around the same time, Democrats in the Oregon Legislature threatened to push policy to gut the program, though their plans petered out in the last week of the legislative session. 

Preschool for All is a marginal income tax, which means payers are only charged on the portion of their income that surpasses a certain threshold. For this particular tax, individual filers pay 1.5 percent of their taxable income over $125,000, while those filing jointly pay the same amount for taxable income over $200,000. Single tax filers pay an additional 3 percent on their taxable income that exceeds $250,000, while that charge applies to joint filers for their earnings over $400,000. 

While the county plans to offer 7,460 Preschool for All seats to providers, the number of children who actually enroll will likely be smaller. That’s because there are only so many providers ready and able to accept kids. (Currently, the program has capacity for 3,844 children, but county data shows 3,158 are enrolled.) But Preschool for All leaders say they’re confident providers are ready to help dramatically scale the program up, and have already received a surge in interest. 

A county press release says the increased seat allocation “reflects a high demand for seats from preschool providers” and is “a response to the County's efforts to expand local early childhood conditions and infrastructure.”  

“Our growth reflects years of intentional outreach and engagement from the dedicated staff in the Preschool & Early Learning Division,” Rachel Pearl, the county’s interim Preschool and Early Learning Division director, said in a press release. “This allocation speaks to a high level of provider interest and capacity, and it positions us to serve many more children across Multnomah County.” 

The county also received criticism for rolling back Preschool for All’s enrollment goals in 2022, in response to the continued impacts of the pandemic on the availability of childcare providers. The adjusted plan set out to allocate 4,500 seats during the 2026-27 school year. The county is now on track to come out significantly ahead of its new targets. If it can enroll close to 7,460 children in the program next year, it will also surpass the original goal of 6,500 to 7,000 seats for 2026-27.

The county may be able to reach its goal of universal preschool access sooner than 2030 for another reason, too—there may be fewer children in the county than initially expected. Recent reporting in the Oregonian revealed that new demographic data shows that while the county expected it would be necessary to offer roughly 11,000 free preschool slots in order to reach every family who wants one, the number may be significantly lower—roughly 7,500.