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Report: Pre-K in more than one-third of schools
WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than one-third of public schools offer prekindergarten, with the classes more common in the Southeast, in larger schools and in areas with higher poverty concentrations, the Education Department said Monday. For the 2000-2001 school year, about 822,000 children were enrolled in prekindergarten classes throughout the country, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The classes were available in about 35 percent of all public elementary schools, with 46 percent of such schools in the Southeast offering the classes. The West was second at 35 percent followed by the central states with classes in 32 percent of public schools and the Northeast at 30 percent. Educators increasingly are emphasizing the importance of early learning in preparing children for school. The center also reported that: • School size made a difference. Prekindergarten was available in 42 percent of schools with 600 or more students; 36 percent of schools with 300 to 599 students and 28 percent of schools with fewer than 300 students. • Income status also was a factor, the report found, with prekindergarten offered in 51 percent of schools where three-fourths or more of the students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. Prekindergarten fell to 40 percent where half to three-fourths of students were eligible for subsidized lunches, 34 percent at schools with one-fourth to half eligible for such lunches and 25 percent where less than one-fourth could get a subsidized lunch. • Some 20 percent of the children enrolled in prekindergarten classes at public elementary schools were 3-year-olds, 68 percent were 4-year-olds and 9 percent were 5-year-olds. The remaining three percent were less than 3 years old. • About half (49 percent) of the children were white, 24 percent were Hispanic, 23 percent were black, 3 percent were Asian and 2 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native. • The average public elementary school prekindergarten class had 14 children. Sixty-eight percent of the prekindergarten classes followed half-day schedules and 32 percent followed full-day schedules. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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