Both enrollment and spending for early childhood education programs reached new levels in 2024, but several selected states accounted for the majority of the work. Many states are behind.
Also, funding for liquidity infant programs has led some leaders in the sector to worry that underinvestment (both financial and other) could create a fateful domino effect on some programming.
“For decades, we’ve said this is a system of blending and braiding funds to serve children,” said Steve Burnett, director of the National Institute of Early Education. “When you pull out one of the main sources of funding, the fear is that the entire system is becoming unstable.”
Released by the National Institute of Early Education, also known as Nieer Annual Kindergarten Yearbook Report The details details enrollment and spending in state-funded kindergarten programs for children aged 3 and 4 years olds. The study looked at preschool administrators in 50 states and the District of Columbia, along with US territory.
Registration, full quality
Registration for 2023-2024 increased by 7% in state-funded programs the previous year, but California and Colorado were responsible for most of that increase, drawing over 30,000 children (over 60% of registered bumps) across the two states.
Colorado launched a free universal pre-K program in the fall of 2023. California has begun A step-by-step approach Filmed in the 2021-2022 school year, when all four-year-olds now have access to the state’s free transition kindergarten program.
However, there is not necessarily a correlation between the increase in registrations mentioned in the new Nieer report and the new products in published programs.
“The positive trend is the increase in registrations. Almost every state has increased,” said Allison Friedman-Krauss, associate director of policy studies at Nieer.
Nine states have increased registrations by more than 20%: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota and Ohio.
However, some states, including Iowa, Georgia and Florida, have been offering universal preschool programs for more than a decade, have stagnated or dropped their registrations.
“We’re a bit worried that these states may be coal mine canaries,” Burnett said. “There’s concern that something is the problem and that it’s the cousin of attendance,” has kept students out from kindergarten to high school.
There are also concerns about registrations falling below pre-pandemic levels. The national proportion of 4-year-olds registered on Pre-K increased from 34% to 37%, while the proportion of 3-year-olds registered increased from 6% to 8%. However, almost half of states (22 states) with state-funded preschool programs enrolled a small number of children in fall 2023 in fall 2023 than in fall 2019, while 14 states had a lower rate of 3 and 4 years of age in fall 2023 than in fall 2019.
And the quality of Pre-K programs across the country is uneven. Only five states (Alabama, Hawaii, Michigan, Mississippi and Rhode Island) meet all of the recommended benchmarks of Neier’s quality kindergarten programs, including class size, teacher qualifications and program ratings. 21 states meet only five or fewer benchmarks.
“When the state puts money into quality programs, they are investing in children’s futures and can expect to see the return on their investment. “It may seem like saving money, but in the long run, funding programs that don’t properly support long-term benefits is wasteful and costly, and can even harm the long-term outcomes of some children.”
Barnett and Friedman-Krauss said the number of states that have reached high-quality metrics (which do not meet them) have been largely stagnant over the years. However, Barnett does not measure that in the report, so it does not assess teachers, particularly those who receive exemptions from lower standards, that are missing from Nieer’s quality metrics.
“[The waivers are] The temporary patch means that the actual solution needs to increase compensation,” he said.
Funding will hit new heights, but I have my own concerns
According to a recent yearbook report, funding for state-funded preschool programs reached an all-time high in past academic years, but like the number of registrations, the funding comes from small groups in the state.
Between 2023 and 2024, the state spent more than $13.6 billion on kindergartens, or nearly 17% compared to the previous year, adjusted for inflation. However, only four states (California, New Jersey, New York and Texas) account for more than half of their total spending.
Federal Covid-19 relief funds also fell to $257 million. Friedman Krauss expects that number to drop even further as funds become unavailable, but added that this year it is a “slightly small portion” of the federal fund.
Six states have seen more than $100 million increase in state spending in kindergartens in California, Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico and Texas. All comprehensive funds, including state, local and federal dollars, supporting state, local and federal kindergartens, reached an all-time high of $15.3 billion.
Friedman-Krauss expects funding to increase in next year’s report as the report covers the 2024-2025 academic year.
“[Next year’s funding] It may not be exposed to some of the forces that create this uncertainty,” she said. I think we’ll see more funding the following year. ”
The report has concerns from researchers about proposed potential reductions to the Head Start program, which serves more than half a million students. I’ll cut it specifically It appears to be on the back burnerquestions remain regarding the fate of funding for other childcare programs.
“The federal context is the main cause of concern,” Friedman Kraus said. “It’s not the majority of the federal funds are participating in the program, but it could change what we’re reporting because it affects the landscape as a whole.”
