A national education group is giving Georgia high marks for its pre-k program. But as with any report card, there is always room for improvement.
Since its inception 15 years ago, nearly one million children have graduated from Georgia's pre-kindgarten program. That's why one national group ranks Georgia near the top when evaluating pre-k programs around the country.
Steve Barnett directs the National Institute for Early Education at Rutgers University in New Jersey. It's most recent report puts Georgia in the number three position.
"The best thing that Georgia is doing with this program is making it available to as many children as possible. Without it, there would be a much larger number of children in Georgia who wouldn't get a pre-school education at all or would get a very poor quality one."More good news, this time from the Southern Education Foundation. Steve Suitts is the group's director.
"There is an argument to be made that Georgia probably more accurately ranks second instead of third in the nation. While the state of Florida has a larger percentage of three year olds and four year olds in the program, the fact is Georgia's program is a higher quality."All that good news however, is tempered by calls for improvement in Georgia's lottery funded pre-k program.
State education officials estimate there are eight thousand children on pre-k waiting lists. The problem is that there are not enough spots says Suits.
"We've had a participation rate in Georgia pre-k that's virtually been flat for the last five to seven years, despite the fact that there are thousands of people who are on waiting lists all over the state."Finally, funding for pre-k has dropped -- more than one hundred dollars per child since 2007. The Southern Education Foundation says it has asked the legislature to tap into lottery reserves earmarked for education. To date, the lottery has contributed 3.6 billion dollars for early childhood education. However state education officials say there are presently no plans to increase pre-k per child spending.
