Florida Districts Weigh Axing Preschool as State Aid Drops

By Linda Jacobson

After 10 years of running prekindergarten programs for disadvantaged children, some Florida districts are planning to get out of the early-childhood-education business rather than dip into their K-12 budgets to pay for preschool.

Under changes to Florida law enacted last year, the state now reimburses school districts at the same rate as other child-care providers. The problem, say some early-childhood educators, is that districts often have higher standards than other providers in such areas as teacher qualifications and staff-to-child ratios, and therefore have higher costs.

So now, if school districts want to maintain those standards, they're being forced to make up the difference with local dollars. The upshot is that at least five districts are considering ending their prekindergarten programs at the end...