Southern Education Foundation Report Released

The Southern Education Foundation recently released a new report titled "Pre-Kindergarten in the South." The report found that the South is leading the nation in enrollment and quality of state-supported early childhood development programs. The AP's summary of some of the report’s findings appears below.

_ In the South, 19.4 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds are served by state pre-K programs. That number compares to 12 percent in the Northeast, 9 percent in the Midwest and 5.6 percent in the West. The national average is 13.1 percent.

_ Oklahoma has the highest percentage of 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in state pre-K at 33.4 percent. Eleven states have no state pre-K program.

_ Mississippi, the only Southern state with no pre-K program, has the nation's largest percentage of young children in poverty.

_ Of the six states requiring full-day pre-K, all are in the South.

You can read the full report here.