States expanding public pre-K programs

In a growing number of classrooms around the country, 4 is the new 5 and preschool the new kindergarten. Hoping for a payoff of better schools and sharper students, states are aggressively expanding publicly funded programs to the youngest students—4 or even 3 years old. And turning away from play-oriented day care, states are setting new academic standards, including class sizes and teacher credentials, to provide higher quality education before the first day of kindergarten.

Led by states such as Florida, Maryland and North Carolina, enrollment in public pre-K by 4- and even 3-year-olds jumped 40% from 2001 to 2006. Excluding federal Head Start programs for poor children, the pre-K landscape now spans 38 states, including Delaware, and includes nearly 1 million children, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. Read more about the expansion of early child care services in The News Journal online.