Can State Pre-K Be Saved?

NIEER’s Latest Yearbook Shows State Pre-K Continued to Make Gains for 2008. But Without More Federal Aid, They Could Be Short-Lived.

Spirits were high at NIEER's State of Preschool 2008: State Preschool Yearbook press conference at the Oyster-Adams Bilingual School in Washington, D.C. this April. After all, spring was in the air and boisterous preschoolers contributed the sound effects. NIEER Director Steve Barnett described the gains made in state pre-K and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan outlined the Obama administration's commitment to improving pre-K access and quality.

Rebecca Rimel, president of The Pew Charitable Trusts, noted the positive trends charted by the Yearbook but said the states are "by no means united when it comes to providing pre-K. At Pew we believe that every child should have access to a quality preschool education."

The mood grew more somber when Barnett pointed out that in states where the most pre-K progress has been made, tough economic decisions are putting that progress at risk. That very day state senators in Raleigh, North Carolina were entertaining big program cuts for the state's well-regarded More at Four program. In Albany, New York Governor David Paterson was in the process of deciding the best he could do was cut his proposed FY 2010 appropriations by $75 million. And in Sacramento, California, early educators braced for cuts they already knew were coming.

In many respects, state-funded pre-K is at a crossroads. Some of the biggest states with the biggest gains have their backs against the wall. Unlike the federal government, they must balance their budgets each year. Yet many are confronted with multi-billion-dollar deficits only the most draconian reductions in funding can address.

At the same time, state-funded pre-K has largely been left out of the picture when it comes to federal aid. The Obama administration's economic stimulus package expands Head Start, Early Head Start, and child care subsidies and allows states to use Title I monies for pre-K, but provides no direct aid to state pre-K. And, pre-K is more vulnerable to cuts in most states because funding is discretionary and not formula-based like K–12 education.

Barnett says this creates a sort of 'perfect storm' for state-funded pre-K that could set progress back years. A retrenchment in state pre-K would have major consequences for working families already struggling. Many would be left without services because most don't qualify for Head Start. Progress on program effectiveness would be lost because many of the programs most vulnerable to cuts are the same programs research has shown to be the most effective at producing gains in kids. More at Four, the North Carolina program now being threatened with funding cuts and reductions in quality, is one of only two programs in the nation meeting all 10 of NIEER's quality benchmarks.

Barnett says the only feasible solution is for the federal government to step in with direct aid to the states. "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 America will have access to a good education," he says. To do this, Barnett suggests the federal government would match state spending with up to $2,500 for every additional child enrolled in state pre-K programs meeting basic quality standards. He says that, in addition, the federal government should facilitate increased integration of child care, Head Start, and state pre-K.

"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," he said.

Key Findings from The State of Preschool 2008:
• 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, 12 states improved the quality of their preschool programs. Only two 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.