Early returns: lawmakers are sold on the importance of early learning programs. Now they're figuring out how to pay for them.

• Author: Poppe, Julie

Early education programs that prepare children for kindergarten may be the single most important thing that helps them graduate from high school, stay out of trouble with the law and hold good jobs later in life.

Even though the poor economy has restricted the money available for these early programs, state lawmakers have increased funding for pre-K in the last several years. But as states try to cope with shrinking revenues--a situation expected to last at least a couple of more years--they will find it more difficult to do so.

Steve Barnett, a national researcher and economist with the National Institute for Early Education Research, argues that pre-K is an investment in the future. "When states cut pre-K, they increase the future costs of state and local government and decrease future tax revenues, so families get hurt now and in the future," he says. Cuts in state pre-K budgets now come at "just the time when parents have less ability to pay for such programs themselves."

Research shows pre-K improves kids' lives in the short and long term. High-quality preschool programs help promote a child's intellect, build strong social and emotional skills, and boost motivation.

Illinois Representative Roger Eddy, a school superintendent, started pre-K in his district more than 20 years ago. He has seen first-hand the benefits of preschool, but knows cuts are sometimes necessary. "So far," he says, "budget cuts are not trimming [preschool] classrooms."

Some 80 percent of all 4-year-olds attend a preschool program, with about half in public programs and the other half in private, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research. More than 1 million 3-and 4-year-olds attended state-funded pre-K programs in 2008.

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HOLDING ONTO FUNDING

Maybe the most surprising thing about pre-K is that, for the most part, it has not been on the chopping block. According to a recent Pew Center on the States report, overall state pre-K funding in fiscal year 2010 increased by more than $64 million. A legislative fiscal survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures also showed lawmakers increased support for early care and education programs in the previous fiscal year even as budget gaps emerged.

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Forty states and the District of Columbia currently provide a total of $5.3 billion in state funding for pre-K programs. Twenty-three states and D.C. increased pre-K investments for FY 2010. Alaska and Rhode Island--states that have not previously invested money in pre-K--started pilot programs. Alabama increased funding by $19 million, New Jersey increased funding by 10 percent...