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Tight budgets hit prekindergarten programs

Enrollment has dropped in some states

By Kimberly Hefling

 |  Associated Press  

  January 18, 2012

The expansion in public prekindergarten programs has slowed and even been reversed in some states as school districts cope with shrinking budgets. As a result, many 3- and 4-year-olds aren’t going to preschool. Kids from low-income families who start kindergarten without first attending a quality education program enter school an estimated 18 months behind their peers. Many never catch up, and research shows they are more likely to need special education services and to drop out.

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