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If state-funded preschool programs are in a race, then it鈥檚 clear that some states are approaching the finish line while others have lost momentum. 

So said Steve Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, which has just published its examining state-funded preschools. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the story this year 鈥� that the race is highly uneven,鈥� said Barnett. 鈥淓ven as some states are racing toward the finish line, more states are moving in the wrong direction. A few states never entered the race. They鈥檙e not running.鈥�

The research center has been publishing the State of Preschool Yearbook since 2003, measuring state-funded preschool programs against a set of quality standards and tracking programs鈥� enrollment and funding. For the first time, six states hit all 10 of NIEER鈥檚 , which measure factors such as teacher credentials, staff professional development, curriculum supports, class sizes and staff-to-child ratios. One of those states, Georgia, became the first with a universal preschool program to meet all 10 quality indicators 鈥� a feat that NIEER is touting widely and which Barnett said made the Peach State a 鈥渟ymbol鈥� for everyone else. 

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to choose between serving all the kids and building a high-quality program,鈥� he said. 鈥淕eorgia shows you can do it and not break the bank.鈥�

In the 2024-25 school year, state-funded preschools saw record high enrollment and funding, though the pace slowed considerably from the prior year, according to NIEER鈥檚 findings. 

State-supported preschool programs now serve a combined 1.8 million children nationally, including 37% of 4-year-olds and 9% of 3-year-olds. The states that contributed most to the enrollment gains are California, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri, adding more than 52,000 new preschool seats.

Federal, state and local governments spent a combined $17.7 billion on preschool, with more than $14 billion of that amount coming from states. More than half of states increased their funding for preschool, including Michigan and New Jersey, which increased spending by more than $100 million each. Meanwhile, 17 states spent less, with Arizona, North Carolina and Texas among those seeing the biggest declines. Another six states do not have a state-funded preschool program, as defined by NIEER: Idaho, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Thus, the high-stakes race metaphor. 

鈥淵ou have states moving ahead,鈥� Barnett reiterated. 鈥淏ut you have states faltering, states that didn鈥檛 make much progress.鈥�

Part of the explanation for the faltering states, he said, is that they have less federal funding to prop up these programs than they used to. But that鈥檚 not the full story, since even in some states with budget deficits, , they managed to increase funding for pre-K. 鈥淚t is about how you set your priorities,鈥� Barnett said. 

This report found that enrollment for 3-year-olds in public pre-K is at an all-time-high, though Allison Friedman-Krauss, lead author of the report, clarified that it鈥檚 only marginally higher than it was the previous year and that it still lags far behind enrollment for 4-year-olds. 

Several states have pledged to serve all 3-year-olds, including less populous ones like Vermont and New Mexico and more populous ones such as Illinois and New Jersey. 

It takes time to build those programs, though, Friedman-Krauss and Barnett said, so the progress on serving 3-year-olds is expected to be slow and incremental. 

As for Georgia, it joins an elite group of states that are lauded by NIEER for quality, including Alabama, Hawaii, Mississippi, Michigan and Rhode Island.  

Each of the 10 quality benchmarks represents an improvement in preschool quality that can be felt by children and families, Barnett said. 

鈥淐hildren鈥檚 experiences can be tremendously different between programs that have all of this in place and programs that have little in place,鈥� he said. 

For example, he added, 鈥渙ne of the keys to good early childhood education is the teacher-child relationship.鈥� It is much more likely for that relationship to be strong and for children to get individualized support for their learning and development when a teacher has fewer children in her care.  

And better-prepared teachers, he said, are going to have more realistic expectations about what the job entails and will be more likely to stay in their positions for longer. That matters for young children, who benefit from consistent, stable caregivers and teachers. 

To meet all 10 benchmarks, Georgia its staff-to-child ratios and maximum classroom sizes, said Susan Adams, deputy commissioner for pre-K and instructional support at the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning.

As of fall 2024, Georgia has reduced maximum preschool class sizes to 20 and set ratios at one adult to 10 children, Adams said. The state has also achieved salary parity for preschool teachers, so that they now align with the earnings of K-12 teachers, she added. 

What sets Georgia鈥檚 preschool program apart is that it is maintaining a high-quality learning environment while serving more than 70,000 children per year across Georgia鈥檚 159 counties. 

The changes to ratios and maximum classroom sizes did reduce the number of preschool slots statewide, but the state is midway through a four-year effort to build back that capacity, by adding 100 new classrooms each year, Adams said. 

NIEER is tracking a number of other states that, with just a few changes, could join Georgia in providing universal access to high-quality pre-K, including New Mexico, which will be on par with Georgia once it meets the benchmark that requires all lead teachers to have a bachelor鈥檚 degree in early childhood education. 

While Barnett believes NIEER鈥檚 close tracking of state-funded preschool programs helps with accountability, he clarified that Georgia and other states are not improving their programs just so they can check another box in a report. 

鈥淭he rationale for the leadership is not to get the acclaim or recognition from us,鈥� he said. 鈥淭heir rationale, really, is we need to provide a better program for kids.鈥�

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