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Local opinion: Supervisors help to define our community
by Marguerite Harmon | Arizona Daily Star | September 3, 2025
The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
On Aug. 18, the Pima County Board of Supervisors affirmed that the identity of Pima County is a region whose values are aligned with our actions. Our community prioritizes prosperity and creating opportunities for success for everyone. There are many actions the Board of Supervisors has taken in the past and will take in the future to affirm and further this identity. Their most recent vote, approving funding for high-quality early childhood education is one such action that brings our values and identity into the spotlight.
With a single vote, our community leadership recognized how, by supporting our families and children, they reinforced that we are a generous, caring and connected region. With a single vote, they established the foundation of a strong workforce that is shaped at the earliest ages. With a single vote, the affirmation was given that we will capitalize on our single most important resource — our people. With a single vote, they showed that diverse members who may not agree on all the issues can come together and initiate solutions. With a single vote, the creation of both an educational review roundtable and business leadership council forges the foundation for the system that demonstrates that community development and growth require solid and responsive public policy and with a transparent means to achieve it.
Affirming the community value of working in cross-sector relationships, the Preschool Promise Working Group brought together education, government, business and the non-profit community to continue a community discussion to commit to financially support high-quality early education that supplements and reinforces the choices families have when deciding what is best for their children.
The initial stages of the Pima Early Education Program created the mechanism to coordinate resources across sectors, identify the existing capacity as well as the need for additional capacity both currently and in the future, and to begin to explore how to sustain and expand these efforts. By forging strong partnerships with business leaders, philanthropic organizations, and other sectors, we lay the groundwork for an effective early childhood system that grows stronger with every connection.
This multi-sector approach has been successful in creating the capacity to give every child a strong start in life. While we have made meaningful progress, the promise remains only partially fulfilled. As of late 2024, nearly 5,000 children were supported through this collaborative effort, which is a milestone worth celebrating. However, we must also confront reality. An estimated 8,000 eligible children in Pima County are still not being served. Zoom out even further, and more than 13,000 children could benefit if their families had access to high-quality early learning programs.
The challenge of sustainability requires systems-level planning and sound public policy. The current funding strategy uses a source that does not require a tradeoff between critical needs to achieve community goals. In order to ensure capacity today and build for the future, effective, multi-sector resources must be brought together to find creative solutions that optimize existing resources that have not been applied to this effort. This is not just a numbers game; it is a call to action. When we work together with intention, across sectors and communities, we do not just improve statistics. We transform the lives of young children and families.
Source: https://tucson.com/opinion/column/article_0e64c648-6cd0-4eff-af1d-e7373205edaf.html
Marguerite Harmon served as CEO of Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona for over 20 years. She worked to develop and support high quality early childhood education including serving on the Regional Planning Council for Arizona First Things First. She has continued to advocate for young children as a member of Preschool Promise.