FOR RELEASE: April 8, 2009 CONTACT: Steve Barnett or Carol Shipp 732-932-4350
Economy Threatens Impressive Expansion of State Pre-K Programs
Federal Program Called for to Help States Increase Quality, Enrollment
The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) released The State of Preschool 2008 at a news conference here today. Key findings included:
• Enrollment increased by more than 108,000 children. More than 1.1 million children attended state-funded preschool education, 973,178 at age 4 alone.
• Thirty-three of the 38 states with state-funded programs increased enrollment.
• Based on NIEER’s Quality Standards Checklist, 11 states improved the quality of their preschool programs. Only one fell back.
• State funding for pre-K rose to almost $4.6 billion. Funding for state pre-K from all reported sources exceeded $5.2 billion, an increase of nearly $1 billion (23 percent) over the previous year.
On a less positive note, whether or not a child receives high-quality preschool education depends on where his or her family lives. Twelve states provided no state-funded preschool in 2008.
Based at
Due to the economy and declining state revenues, the immediate future of state-funded preschool is uncertain. In most states, expenditures on pre-K are entirely discretionary and therefore easier to cut than expenditures for K-12 education and other programs.
NIEER Director Steve Barnett said states are considering enrollment cuts, reductions in program standards, and postponement of expansion plans even with the availability of new federal stimulus funds.
Of the 38 states with state-funded preschool, cuts are likely in at least nine including some of the biggest states – California, Florida, New York, and North Carolina.
Whatever state and federal governments may do to cope with the current economic crisis, Barnett said, “a federal initiative is needed to support early learning and development.
“We propose that the federal government commit to doubling the rate of growth in state pre-K while raising state quality standards so that by the year 2020 all 4-year-olds in
“If the federal government adopts such a course, all of our children will have a brighter future. If it does not, disparities in early education and school readiness will continue to increase, and another generation will pass without the benefits of quality pre-K for all.”
Currently,
At the other end of the spectrum, are the 12 states that have no regular state preschool education program:
Most states meet a majority of the NIEER’s 10 benchmarks for program quality standards, but five states meet fewer than half. These states include three of the four states with the largest populations and numbers of children in pre-K—
In 2008, enrollment of 3-year-olds continued to rise, though less rapidly than at age 4. The leader in serving 3-year-olds in state pre-K is
Research shows that high-quality pre-K can help improve the educational success of all children and by doing so, decrease school failure and dropout rates, and crime and delinquency. In addition, high-quality preschool education has been found to improve economic productivity and health.
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The National Institute for Early Education Research (www.nieer.org), a unit of the