Commitment of Bredesen and Tennessee General Assembly to Pre-K Lauded in New Pew Report

NASHVILLE – Governor Phil Bredesen and the state of Tennessee earned national commendation in a report released today for the state’s consistent and firm commitment to high-quality pre-kindergarten. The state-by-state analysis entitled Leadership Matters: Governors’ Pre-K Budget Proposals Fiscal Year 2011 was released by Pre-K Now, a project of the Pew Center on the States.

 

“Our dedication to Pre-K in this state has been unwavering and it shows,” Bredesen said. “Pre-K classrooms are one of the best investments we can make in the lives of our young people and even in difficult budget years, with the continued support of the Tennessee General Assembly, we’ve made this valuable educational opportunity available for parents and families who want their children to attend.”

 

Leadership Matters cites the emphasis placed on early childhood education in Tennessee’s Race to the Top application. Tennessee was one of just two states out of 41 applicants to be successful in Race to the Top’s first round. The report annually evaluates budget proposals for the coming school year and documents governors’ remarks in recent state of the state addresses to determine which leaders count voluntary, high-quality pre-k among their top education reform and economic development strategies.

 

The report also referenced Tennessee’s proposal to establish a requirement for all pre-k teacher assistants to hold a Child Development Associate certification and its plans to make training opportunities more accessible for child care and pre-k providers through the use of online technology. This would allow Tennessee’s Voluntary Pre-K program to meet the only National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) benchmark it has not yet achieved.

 

Earlier this month, Bredesen’s Voluntary Pre-K program once again received high marks in NIEER’s annual report, which ranked Tennessee among the top states for the percentage of children enrolled and funding per child. Tennessee’s program met nine out of 10 quality standard benchmarks in that report, entitled State of Preschool Yearbook 2009. The state increased enrollment of 4-year-olds to 22 percent, and earned an overall ranking of 15th for funding per child with $4,520.

 

Tennessee Pre-K Facts:

·    Funding in FY 2010 is $83.4 million

·    Tennessee has 934 state-funded Pre-K classes that currently serve more than 18,000 children

 

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