美国国家公共电台 NPR Preschool, A State-By-State Update（在线收听）

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

More states than ever are funding preschool. That is according to a new report from the National Institute for Early Education Research or NIEER. NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports.

CLAUDIO SANCHEZ, BYLINE: Forty-three states plus the District of Columbia and Guam today offer pre-K programs. They serve about 1.5 million children across the country, mostly 3 and 4 year olds. Total state spending on preschool is now about $7.4 billion, an 8 percent increase since last year. That increase has pushed spending to nearly $5,000 per child.

Overall, the quality of state-funded preschool programs has improved. Alabama and Rhode Island lead the way with standards that include smaller class sizes and well-trained teachers. So yes, these findings are encouraging, but Steve Barnett, head of NIEER, cautions that the quality of preschool programs nationwide is very uneven.

STEVEN BARNETT: The growing inequality between the states that have moved ahead and states who do nothing is really stark.

SANCHEZ: Barnett says the reasons for that vary. Florida, for example, spends roughly half of what Alabama and most other states spend. And many of these programs only reach a fraction of their 3 and 4 year olds. Seven states do not fund preschool at all. Claudio Sanchez, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GIVE IT UP")