You asked a number of questions about universal preschool in Connecticut. Your questions and the respective answers follow.

WHAT PROPOSALS FOR UNIVERSAL PRE-SCHOOL HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED IN CONNECTICUT AND WHAT WERE THE ASSOCIATED COSTS?

For the last three legislative sessions, the Education Committee has raised the same universal preschool bill. The legislation would have required towns, in cooperation with boards of education, to provide spaces in preschool programs for all four-year-olds (1) residing within the school district and (2) who are not participating in the already established school readiness program, starting the year after the bill's passage. It would have required towns to do the same for three-year-olds beginning two years later. The bill would have required the State Department of Education (SDE) to develop standards for these preschool programs with the same level of instruction as the existing school readiness program, except that they would have had to run for 2. 5 hours a day for 180 days. It appears that, while towns would have been required to provide spaces, children would not have been required to attend. The legislation mirrors a Connecticut State Board of Education recommendation. The universal preschool provisions of the legislation (House bill 5579 in 2004, Senate bill 1339 in 2005, and House bill 5517 in 2006) were never voted out of committee and therefore, did not receive a fiscal analysis.

Bills have also been introduced (mainly proposed bills that were not formally raised by a committee) to fully fund preschool in the priority school districts. These bills are not considered true universal preschool initiatives because they make the option available only to students in certain geographic locations. However, the costs associated with these bills are somewhat illustrative of the costs involved with instituting universal preschool statewide.

Since 2004, SDE has, in accordance with the law, issued a report that identifies the number of eligible children not being served by school readiness programs in priority school districts and the estimated cost of providing universal school readiness to those children. According to the report issued in March 2006, 7,392 three- and four-year-olds were receiving preschool, 6,900 of these in priority school districts. In fiscal year 2006, $ 48,129,000 was awarded to priority school districts for the purchase of spaces in approved preschool settings.

About 9,700 children in the priority school districts are not currently being served. The report assumes that 10% of the children will not need spaces due to family choice. The children who are not being served were reported to need 5,520 full-day/full-year slots, 1,302 school-day/school-year slots, and 1,909 part-day, part-year slots. The annual cost of operating preschool programs for the additional 8,731 children is approximately $ 66,293,622. The report assumes these costs will be paid by a combination of parent fees, state subsidies, and other grant support. The children will require 7,777 new spaces split between community-based facilities (5,123) and public school buildings (2,654). Total capital costs to develop these spaces will be $ 264,662,899. The report does not include infrastructure costs associated with teacher preparation and administration. We enclose a copy of the full report for your use.

Additionally, the statutorily created Early Childhood Education Cabinet has identified as a top priority, assuring fiscal support for high quality preschool for all three- and four-year-olds in families that are at least at or below 185% of the federal poverty level and increasing this income eligibility standard as state resources permit. The Cabinet is compiling data and examining strategies and timelines for expansion of the school readiness program. More detail will be available when the Cabinet finalizes its Early Childhood Investment Plan by late November of 2006. More information on the Cabinet's work is available at http: //www. ecpartners. org.

WHAT ARE THE PERCEIVED/DOCUMENTED BENEFITS OF THE PROGRAMS?

In 2004, the Connecticut Commission on Children released a report titled “Opening the Kindergarten Door - The Preschool Difference. ” The report, which was supported by SDE and the Connecticut Center for School Change, summarizes survey data from kindergarten teachers in priority school districts on kindergarten readiness. The study found that children with two years of preschool were twice as likely to be rated as “ready for kindergarten” in language, literacy, and math skills than their peers without preschool. They were also one and a half times more likely to be seen as “ready for kindergarten” in social/emotional and fine motor skills than their peers without preschool. The chart below summarizes the findings.

Table 1: Percent of Children Rated as “Ready for Kindergarten” on Most or All Skills in Each Area

In a 2003 report, entitled “Closing the Achievement Gaps – Removing Barriers to Preschool in Connecticut,” the State Board of Education summarizes school readiness studies from several towns, including Middletown and Bridgeport, and found that data from those communities strongly supported quality preschool investment. For instance, the report notes that the availability of a school readiness program in Middletown accounted for a significant increase in the number of low-income African-American children “ready” for school – from 87% of those who did not attend to 96% of those who did. The study used the results of the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning, Third Edition.

The city of Bridgeport conducted a longitudinal study of children that had received early care and education and compared them to those who did not. The study, which was completed in 2002, found that children who had quality early education had fewer retentions, more frequent attendance, and higher reading scores throughout grades K-2. The report also contains summaries of studies conducted in Milford, Stamford, Hartford, and West Hartford. We enclose a copy for your use.

Similar results have been found on the national level. For instance, a 2006 paper released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, titled “Lessons Learned – A Review of Early Childhood Development Studies,” notes many benefits of early childhood education. The paper reviews studies the authors found to be methodologically sound and determined that high quality programs have generally led to improved educational performance, increased college graduation rates, at least short term gains in child I. Q. scores, reductions in welfare use, and numerous other benefits. The report can be found at http: //www. minneapolisfed. org/ research/studies/earlychild/lessonslearned. pdf.

HOW MIGHT UNIVERSAL PRESCHOOL PROGRAMS AFFECT EXISTING PRIVATE PRESCHOOL PROGRAMS?

The impact on private programs would depend on how the universal preschool program is constructed and whether it includes private providers. Connecticut's current school readiness framework allows the purchase of spaces in Head Start, for profit, non-profit, and state-funded day care programs and public schools. It is not uncommon for states that offer universal preschool to sub-contract or provide funding for private providers. For instance, in Georgia, which offers universal access to preschool to all four-year-olds statewide, programs are available through public schools, private child care centers, Head Start agencies, faith-based organizations, state colleges, and universities.

WHAT HAVE OTHER STATES DONE IN THIS AREA AND WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMPACT OF IMPLEMENTATION?

There is no state that requires children younger than age five to attend pre-kindergarten programs. However, after reviewing the 2005 State Preschool Yearbook published by the National Institute for Early Education Research, there appear to be six states that currently offer “universal” pre-K in some form. The states are Florida, Georgia, Maine, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. “Universal” as it is used here refers to preschool programs for which all children of a particular age are eligible regardless of income or other risk factors. All of the current universal programs cover only four-year-olds.

While New York does offer a program that is called “universal,” it has been unable to reach its goal of expanding its program from economically disadvantaged children to all children due to funding issues. Also, unlike the other programs, the Maine program appears to be voluntary on the local level, meaning that the state allows any district to offer the program but does not require them to do so. We include more detailed information on two of the programs, including program evaluation data, for your use.

Georgia

Georgia's pre-K program is funded by the proceeds from the Georgia state lottery and provides services through both public schools and private providers. The Georgia program is open to any four-year-old child living in the state. During the 2004-05 school year, the pre-K program served 55% of the state's four-year-olds and was offered in every county. (In Connecticut, the school readiness program was available in 28% of the state's communities and served 15% of the state's population of four-year-olds. )

In August 2003, researchers from the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University published a study of the pre-K program. The study (1) compares the development of young children attending publicly and privately funded preschools, (2) assesses the quality of their experiences, and (3) estimates the pre-K program's effects.

The report's major findings are:

Oklahoma

Oklahoma's program began in 1990 as a pre-K program for four-year-olds who qualified for free or reduced-price school lunches and was expanded to all four-year-olds in 1998. Unlike Georgia's program, the Oklahoma pre-K program delivers services exclusively through public school districts (although some districts collaborate with community-based programs to provide services). It is available in 95% of the school districts. In the 2004-05 school year, 68% of the state's four-year-olds participated in state pre-K program.

In a study of the Oklahoma's pre-K program published in November 2003, two researchers from Georgetown University found the program had “strong positive effects” on children's language and cognitive skills but had no effect on their social-emotional or motor skills.

The researchers also found that Hispanic and African-American children benefited most, especially when enrolled in full-day programs. For white children, only those enrolled in half-day programs showed any gains and then only in language skills. When divided by income, the study found that the poorest children gained the most, while children from higher-income households showed no net educational gains.

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