New Report Shows Need for Access to High-Quality Preschool for Florida’s Children

Data highlights the nation’s unmet need for high-quality early learning

The U.S. Department of Education released a new report today detailing the unmet need across the country for high-quality preschool programs.

According to the report, A Matter of Equity: Preschool in America, of the approximately 4 million 4-year olds in the Unites States, about 60 percent – or nearly 2.5 million - are not enrolled in publicly funded preschool programs, including state preschool programs, Head Start and programs serving children with disabilities. Even fewer are enrolled in the highest-quality programs. In Florida 11 percent of 4-year-olds are not enrolled.

The report highlights the need for an Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that expands access to high-quality early learning opportunities and makes the law preschool through 12^th grade, rather than K-12. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan discussed the report today during a visit to Martin Luther King Jr. Early Childhood Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

“This new report shows that we are a long way from achieving full educational opportunity in this country. Students have made enormous progress in recent years, thanks to the hard work of educators, families and the students themselves, but we have so much farther to go, and making high-quality preschool available to all families who want it must be part of that,” Duncan said. “We’ve made key investments in early learning, but we need to do more. Expanding access to high-quality preschool within the reauthorization of ESEA will narrow achievement gaps, and reflect the real, scientific understanding that learning begins long before a child enters kindergarten.”

Advances in science and research have proven the important impact that preschool programs can have on children’s learning, but unfortunately too many children still do not have access to these programs. Latinos are the United States’ fastest growing and largest minority group, making up a quarter of 3- and 4-year-olds, yet they have the lowest preschool participation rates of any major ethnicity or race – 40 percent as compared to 50 percent for African-American children, and 53 percent for white children. In addition, children from low-income families are less likely to be enrolled in preschool than their peers – 41 percent compared to 61 percent. African-American children and children from low-income families are the most likely to be in low-quality settings and the least likely to be in high-quality settings. All children need access to high-quality preschool to prepare them for kindergarten and to close the opportunity and achievement gaps

For some children when they enter kindergarten, huge educational gaps exists. White students have higher reading and math scores than students of color. Scores on reading and math were lowest for kindergartners in households with incomes below the federal poverty level and highest for those in households with incomes at or above 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Children at risk for academic failure, on average, start kindergarten 12 to 14 months behind their peers in pre-literacy and language skills.  Without access to quality preschool, students of color, and children from low-income families, are far less likely to be prepared to start kindergarten than their peers. 

High-quality preschool provides benefits to society of $8.60 for every $1 spent, according to the White House Council of Economic Advisors December 2014 report, The Economics of Early Childhood Investments, about half of which comes from increased earnings for children when they grow up.  An impressive coalition of education, business, law enforcement, retired military, child advocacy groups, and faith-based leaders and 70 percent of voters said in a recent Gallup poll that they would support increasing federal funding to make sure high-quality preschool programs are available for every child in America.

The Obama Administration has made significant investments in early learning through the Early Learning Challenge and thePreschool Development Grants programs. The grants lay the groundwork for states to be prepared for the proposed Preschool for All program. The Administration has asked for an increase of $500 million for Preschool Development Grants in the FY16 budget request to expand this opportunity to more states, the Bureau of Indian Education, tribal educational agencies, territories, and the outlying areas.

Preschool Development Grants support states’ efforts to build or enhance their infrastructure to provide high-quality preschool programs, and expand programs in high-need communities. The $250 million awarded to 18 states will benefit more than 33,000 additional children in 200 high-need communities, where families have little or no access to affordable, high-quality preschool.  With additional funding, the Department could have provided high-quality opportunities for many more children in the 36 states that applied.

Access to Preschool Uneven Across States

Table 1. Enrollment in Publicly Funded Preschool¹ by State (4-year-olds) 2012–2013^[i]

State	Total  number of 4-year-olds in the state	Percentage of 4-year olds enrolled in state preschool	Percentage of 4-year olds enrolled in federal Head Start programs	Percentage of 4-year-olds enrolled in special education preschool services	Total 4-year-oldsnot enrolled in a publicly funded program	Total percentage of 4-year-olds not enrolledin a publicly funded program
50 states plus D.C.	4,112,347	28%	10%	3%	2,462,740	59%
Alabama	62,483	6%	15%	2%	48,145	77%
Alaska	10,760	3%	13%	6%	8,420	78%
Arizona	92,778	3%	11%	5%	75,118	81%
Arkansas	40,173	33%	13%	5%	19,862	49%
California	516,595	15%	11%	3%	368,341	71%
Colorado	69,956	21%	7%	6%	46,103	66%
Connecticut	40,958	13%	7%	5%	30,343	74%
Delaware	11,372	7%	6%	6%	9,223	81%
District of Columbia	6,945	94%	6%	0%	0	0%
Florida	221,842	78%	9%	1%	25,266	11%
Georgia	140,894	58%	7%	1%	47,981	34%
Hawaii	17,536	0%	9%	4%	15,176	87%
Idaho	24,427	0%	8%	4%	21,298	87%
Illinois	167,665	27%	11%	3%	98,124	59%
Indiana	87,734	0%	9%	6%	75,006	85%
Iowa	41,034	60%	8%	2%	12,159	30%
Kansas	41,428	21%	8%	8%	26,440	64%
Kentucky	57,379	29%	15%	0%	31,945	56%
Louisiana	64,356	31%	12%	2%	35,050	54%
Maine	14,059	34%	10%	7%	6,775	48%
Maryland	74,758	35%	6%	5%	38,679	52%
Massachusetts	74,901	14%	7%	4%	55,932	75%
Michigan	119,525	21%	15%	0%	77,066	64%
Minnesota	72,464	1%	8%	6%	61,430	85%
Mississippi	43,363	0%	33%	4%	27,339	63%
Missouri	78,544	3%	10%	6%	63,586	81%
Montana	12,568	0%	19%	3%	9,833	78%
Nebraska	26,783	26%	9%	0%	17,527	65%
Nevada	38,407	3%	4%	7%	33,065	86%
New Hampshire	13,853	0%	5%	7%	12,144	88%
New Jersey	109,605	28%	6%	5%	65,952	60%
New Mexico	29,614	18%	14%	7%	18,036	61%
New York	231,040	45%	10%	6%	91,147	39%
North Carolina	128,958	23%	9%	3%	84,809	66%
North Dakota	9,256	0%	17%	5%	7,183	78%
Ohio	144,309	2%	12%	5%	116,712	81%
Oklahoma	54,100	74%	13%	0%	6,955	13%
Oregon	48,463	10%	8%	5%	37,307	77%
Pennsylvania	147,710	12%	10%	6%	105,705	72%
Rhode Island	11,607	1%	10%	7%	9,455	81%
South Carolina	61,682	40%	9%	2%	30,261	49%
South Dakota	12,237	0%	18%	6%	9,295	76%
Tennessee	84,178	21%	11%	2%	55,086	65%
Texas	397,272	52%	9%	1%	152,559	38%
Utah	53,014	0%	7%	6%	46,130	87%
Vermont	6,462	71%	8%	0%	1,320	20%
Virginia	104,722	17%	7%	3%	76,900	73%
Washington	90,419	8%	8%	4%	72,255	80%
West Virginia	21,469	62%	23%	0%	3,165	15%
Wisconsin	72,488	64%	7%	1%	19,968	28%
Wyoming	8,202	0%	11%	13%	6,216	76%

Source: National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). (2013). 2013 State Preschool Yearbook

1 Publicly-funded preschool includes state preschool, Head Start, and special education preschool services and does not include privately funded or locally funded preschool programs. 

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