Pre-K in Louisiana Today
Public pre-k has been evolving in Louisiana. Our state provides pre-k to four year olds through a variety of state and federally funded pre-k programs, which differ in eligibility requirements, funding levels and funding sources. However, all of the current publicly funded pre-k programs in Louisiana target low-income children.
History and Current Status
There are approximately 64,700 four year olds in Louisiana, and approximately 40,600 of these children are from low-income families. Head Start programs serve 10, 262 four year olds, the 8(g) Early Childhood program serves 3,296 four year olds, the Nonpublic Early Childhood Development Program serves 1,079 four year olds, Title I programs serve 8,436 four year olds, and other smaller publicly funded programs serve approximately 2,350 four year olds.
The largest pre-k program, however, is the Cecil J. Picard LA 4 Early Childhood Program, or LA 4. It is operated by the state Department of Education through local school systems and charter schools. Begun in January, 2001 with approximately 1,500 students, LA 4 has grown substantially over time. In the 2002-03 school year, the funding was raised to $29,449,125, and the number of students increased to 5,156. By 2005-2006, it had grown to 9,691 children with funding at $52,934,325. In 2007, the Louisiana Legislature voted to make LA 4 available at no cost to all children who are eligible for free or reduced price meals under the federal child nutrition program (185% of federal poverty level) for those school districts that choose to have the program. The funding was raised to $83,000,000, all from the state general fund, and over 14,000 children are being served in the current school year.
As LA 4 has grown, so too has its support in the state. Business groups, child advocates and citizens in general have begun to call for universal pre-k for all four year olds in Louisiana.
However, in the budget for the upcoming year, Governor Jindal has proposed only a 1% increase in funding for LA 4. By contrast, other Southern states are greatly expanding their pre-k programs. Louisiana must continue to build on the early successes of our pre-k if we want to compete with the rest of the country to attract economic development that requires a well-educated workforce. Compared to our Southern neighbors, Louisiana ranked 8th out of 14 for access by four year olds to pre-k and 8th for the amount of resources we are spending on pre-k, as reported by the National Institute for Early Education Research. Now is the time to expand access to Louisiana’s pre-k program to make pre-k for all 4 year olds a reality.
For a history of pre-k in Louisiana go to:
http://www.preknow.org/resource/profiles/louisiana.cfm
For more information on pre-k statutes, programs and funding in Louisiana go to:
http://www.startingat3.org/state_laws/statelawsLAdetail.html
For the NIEER rankings by state go to: http://nieer.org/yearbook/states
Quality
The quality of the LA 4 program is very high. It is a full day program comprised of six hours of early childhood education. The National Institute for Early Education Research gave LA 4 a rating of 8 out of 10 for its quality. LA 4 has comprehensive early learning standards, certified teachers with bachelor’s degrees, a small classroom size of 20 students or less, and a 10:1 student to adult ratio. The teachers are required to have 18 hours of professional development a year, and there is ongoing program monitoring and evaluation.
For more information about the quality of the pre-k programs in Louisiana go to: http://nieer.org/yearbook/pdf/yearbook.pdf#page=68