WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite widespread support from lawmakers from both parties for publicly funded preschool programs and their expansion, reports coming out today find wide disparities in the number of available spots, and ten states without any such programs.
In fact, the number of children enrolled in state preschool programs saw a modest decline of about 9,200 children in the 2012-2013 school year — the first such reduction since 2002, when researchers at Rutgers University started tracking pre-K trends.
Even as funding increased from a year earlier, more than half of states with programs made cuts. California alone, for example, lost nearly 15,000 slots.
The report is from the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers in collaboration with the Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics.
Education Secretary Arne (AHR’-nee) Duncan says the data is a “reminder” that much work needs to be done.
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265-c-17-(Carlotta Bradley, AP correspondent)-“nearly 15,000 slots”-AP correspondent Carlotta Bradley reports there’s a new study on publicly funded preschool programs. (12 May 2014)
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264-v-33-(Carlotta Bradley, AP correspondent)–A new report finds wide disparities in the number of spots available for publicly funded preschool programs. AP correspondent Carlotta Bradley reports. (12 May 2014)
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