More young children are enrolled in state-funded early-childhood-education programs across the country, the National Institute for Early Education Research says in its latest annual report, but only Alabama, Michigan, and Rhode Island meet all the organization’s new benchmarks for quality.
The report, issued last week, found that 10 states enrolled more than 50 percent of 4-year-olds in state-funded preschool in 2016-17, while five states enrolled more than 70 percent. On average, states served more than a third of their 4-year-olds in those programs. That’s an increase from 2002, when three states and the District of Columbia enrolled more than a third of 4-year-olds.
Although states spent more on pre-K last academic year, per-pupil spending has actually gone down since 2002, when adjusted for inflation. The report also notes wide disparities among states in pre-K per-pupil funding.
