We were proud to support an initiative this week to help more Iowa kids get a good start on their education with high-quality preschool.
In 2007, Iowa established an excellent statewide voluntary preschool program for four-year-olds, but there just aren’t enough spots for all the kids who want to attend. Many school districts maintain waiting lists, but others may simply turn away students once they are full. In addition, some school districts—34 during the 2012-13 school year—do not even participate in Iowa’s statewide program.
SF 2351 will help meet the demand among Iowa families who want to send their 4-year-olds to preschool. The bill will increase enrollment and eliminate waiting lists by providing a $1,200 per-pupil incentive for each student that a school adds to their program over the next three years. The bill will also expand eligible expenses for private preschools and encourage outreach to families who could benefit from Iowa’s preschool offerings.
Children who attend a good preschool benefit from early reading and math education. A 2013 report by Iowa’s Child & Family Policy Center found that kids who attend preschool are more proficient readers by third grade than those who don’t go to preschool.
Expanding the availability of preschool will be particularly beneficial to minority students and kids from low-income families. Reports show that fewer students from low-income families who attend preschool require intensive intervention after they enter kindergarten. The children were less likely to drop out of school, repeat grades, need special education or get into trouble with the law.
By the fall of 2012, almost 21,500 Iowa preschoolers (55 percent) in 314 school districts were getting the benefits of our statewide program, which provides at least 10 hours per week of age-appropriate instruction. SF 2351 will now help get even more of Iowa’s 41,000 preschool-aged kids into the classroom if their families want to send them.