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Annual Report on Preschools:

National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) Releases "The 2008 State of preschool: 2008 State Preschool Year book" and South Carolina ranks #10 for Pre-K access in the Nation. This yearbook is presenting data on state preschool programs across the U.S. The annual survey of state-funded preschool programs shows impressive expansion in enrollment and spending but the recession may reverse the trend, curtailinf early education opportunities for children in lower and middle-income families.

The yearbook reports on 2007-2008 school year and ranks each state on:

Access:

* How many children are served.

Resources:

*How many is spent per child

Quality:

*how many of the 10 quality benchmarks wach state meets.

Due to the economy and declining state revenues, the immediate future of state-funded preschool is uncertain. In most states, expenditures on pre-K are entirely discretionary an therefore easier to cut than expenditures for K-12 education and other programs. Most states meet a majority of NIEER's ten benchmarks for program quality, but three of the four states with the largest populations and numbers of children in pre-K - California, Texas,and Florid, meet less than half quality benchmarks. With 12 states providing no state-funded preschool in the 2007-2008 school year, the yearbook reveals that access to quality preschool programs is determined by where families live.

GOOD NEWS:

* Enrollment increased by more than 108,000 children. More than 1.1 million children attended state-funded preschool education, 973,178 at age 4 alone.

* Thirty-three of the 387 states with state-funded programs increased enrollment.

* Nine states improved on NIEER's Quality standards checklist while only one state fell back.

* Total state funding for pre-K rose to almost $4.6 billion.

* In 2008, enrollment of 3-year-olds continued to rise, though in smaller numbers than at age 4.

For more information, including the full report and specific ranking of states, visit www.nieer.org