Georgia Gazette Friday, June 19, 2009

Join host Orlando Montoya tonight for Georgia Gazette. On tonight's show… Is the state's Pre-K program a wise investment? Why it might soon disappear. We continue our series on Georgia efforts to combat a deadly disease in Ethiopia. Also on the program, an interview with green thinker and author Melvin Melaver. We read from your emails... and have the answer to this weeks riddle. All this and more on Georgia Gazette at 6, 7 in Athens, re-broadcast at 11, hear our show any time at http://www.gpb.org/georgiagazette, and download a free podcast on iTunes.

Georgia No. 3 in Nat'l Pre-K Rankings

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.

Conference addresses education problems

The state of education in Georgia is the subject of a conference today at the University of Georgia. Dozens of education leaders came from across the state for the day-long workshop at UGA's Buckhead campus in Atlanta. Leaders from the Department of Education, UGA education college faculty and leaders from local school districts across the state. Issues included state funding of prekindergarten, teacher preparation, pay for educators and challenges for the state's higher education system.

First refugee pre-k opens

Georgia now has its first pre-Kindergarten program designed just for children of refugees. Refugee Family Services is in Stone Mountain. The 20 children in the program are from nine different countries, and about 40 percent of them speak little or no English. The school's director says refugee children face specific challenges as they enter the school system.

Study: Pre-K programs in Georgia slipping

Nearly half of Georgia’s four-year-olds do not have access to the universal pre-kindergarten education promised by the state. That’s the conclusion of a new report released by the Southern Education Foundation. The study says Georgia has made only slight gains in pre-K funding and enrollment in recent years, and more needs to be done. The group wants to see an increase in enrollment from 55-percent, to a level of 80-percent. It also wants a tougher curriculum and professional development standards for pre-K instructors.

South leads nation in Pre-K enrollment

A new report by the Southern Education Foundation, says the south's rate of enrollment for 3- and 4-year olds averages 19-percent.

That may not seem like much, but it's nearly twice as much as the nation's other regions combined.

Here in Georgia the figures are even higher. That's because nearly 30 percent of eligible three and four year olds are enrolled in pre-k.

Andrea Young helped to author the report and says the payoff extends over time.

"The outcome from the kids who had pre-k were better in terms of their high school completion rates. So while we don't want to say that pre-k is a silver bullet, the reality is that it does have a lifelong impact on the children who get the benefit of it."

The report also shows investing in pre-k saves states money.

They don't spend as much on remedial education in higher grades.