Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) utilized the expertise of UW-Madison’s Elizabeth Graue in a report examining preschool access in the state.
Graue is the Sorenson Professor of Early Childhood Education with the School of Education’s No. 1 Ranked Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She is also the director of the Center for Research on Early Childhood Education (CRECE).
The WPR report begins: “Wisconsin ranks fifth in the country for access to free preschool programs for 4-year-olds, with 72 percent of the state’s 4-year-olds enrolled during the 2018-2019 school year, according to the annual “State of Preschool” report from the National Institute of Early Education Research (NIEER). It didn’t, however, do as well in how much the state spends per child — Wisconsin ranked 34th, and spent $658 less per child, adjusted for inflation, in the 2018-2019 school year than it did in the previous year.”
The report adds: “Wisconsin wasn’t far outside the norm. Nationwide, NIEER found that enrollment in pre-K was up slightly, and per-child spending, adjusted for inflation, stayed fairly flat.”
The organization warned that the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic strain could cause states to fall farther behind on quality and per-child spending, as states have to freeze or cut spending to balance their budgets with less tax money coming in.
Before the pandemic closed schools across the state, Wisconsin was moving toward full-day 4K programs. Now, economic struggles will make this move harder.
“I think the argument can be made that with kids losing time now, that we want kids to have more robust programming,” Graue tells WPR, “but since we’re going to have to move money around, and the state’s going to take a big hit, I think that’s not something I’m going to hold my breath about happening.”
According to Graue, school closures came at a particularly bad time, when all the angles of development culminate in spring. Although parents can help encourage learning and further development, Graue said that can be difficult as many parents balance work and families face limited resources.
Listen to the audio here.