Universal Pre-K Is Hard to Find and Harder to Fund The states and cities expanding early education have wrestled with the question of what qualifies as "universal." January 26, 2017 • (Photos by Shane Bevel) You would be forgiven for thinking the building on the north side of San Antonio is a liberal arts college, or maybe a live/work space for artists. The walls are hung with paintings, there are spaces for dancing and there’s a community garden where farm-to-table foods are grown. But in fact it’s the North Education Center, one of San Antonio’s four new full-day pre-kindergarten facilities. The four centers represent a roughly $31 million annual investment by city residents who, in 2012, voted to apportion one-eighth of a cent of the sales tax toward expanding the reach and scope of the state’s existing half-day pre-kindergarten program.