Trista Kendall
Office 202.862.9873
tkendall@preknow.org

(Washington, DC)– Executive Director of Pre-K Now, Libby Doggett, today issued the following statement on The State of Preschool: 2006 State Preschool Yearbook by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER):

“In 2006, children across the country attended pre-kindergarten programs of higher quality than ever before, and better quality means bigger benefits.  Ask any kindergarten teacher to point out children who have attended high-quality pre-k. These students have stronger social, reading, and math skills than children who have not had high-quality pre-k. Sixteen states invested in quality improvements and accordingly met more benchmarks. Those efforts are paying off now in classrooms and will continue to pay off in our society and economy for years to come.

“For the first time, two states fulfill all ten quality benchmarks evaluated by NIEER, and the South is once again setting the bar for the rest of the country. I applaud lawmakers, advocates, administrators, and educators in Alabama and North Carolina for their commitment to providing children with the highest quality pre-k in the country. Prioritizing the quality of children’s early education experiences is the smartest investment any state can make.

“Over the past two years, state pre-k investments have grown by more than $1 billion. Despite this encouraging trend, NIEER has found that the national average for per-child spending was down in FY06. According to Pre-K Now’s research, 31 states and the District of Columbia raised their pre-k spending for FY07, but 12 states flat funded or failed to implement even a cost-of-living increase for their programs. As states enroll even more children, the pre-k pie is getting sliced thinner, and the pie isn’t growing fast enough to sustain the quality gains made in 2006. Now is the time for governors and legislators to reverse this course and commit to increased pre-k access and quality.

“A pre-k program – like any good education program – requires constant attention and revitalization. Parents, educators, and lawmakers can’t expect to get the outstanding academic, social, and economic benefits of high-quality pre-k out of an underfunded program. In order for states to maintain and surpass the quality gains made in 2006, they must consistently increase funding to at least match cost-of-living increases. The stakes don’t get much higher than the future of a child.

Pre-K Now collaborates with state advocates and policymakers to lead a movement for high-quality pre-kindergarten for all three and four year olds. The following funders contribute to making this important work possible: The Pew Charitable Trusts, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, RGK Foundation, the Foundation for Child Development, CityBridge Foundation, PNC Financial Services Group, and the Schumann Fund for New Jersey.

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