The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) has issued its annual report, The State of Preschool 2008, that details efforts of states to enroll children in early learning programs.

A press conference was held this morning at a Washington D.C. preschool with education secretary Arne Duncan in conjunction with the report's release.

The report sites overall progress, but recessionary pressures are threatening Pre-K programs across the country.  Georgia's program, the first of its kind in the U.S., is one of only a handful of states that have at least 50 percent of its four-year-old children enrolled, ranking it third behind Oklahoma and Florida.

Georgia legislators ultimately preserved the 3000 planned additional students slots this year under after budgetary pressures lead them to contemplate reductions.  Although funded by state lottery, a plateau in ticket sales and increasing costs to maintain college scholarships under the HOPE program have put pressure on Pre-K.

Text of NIEER's press release for Georgia is available here

See NIEER's review of Georgia's preschool initiative here: NIEER Pre-K snapshot of Georgia (pdf)

NIEER was established at Rutgers University's Graduate School of Education with a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The Institute is part of the Trusts' 7-10 year grant-making strategy to ensure universal, voluntary access to high-quality early education for 3- and 4-year old children.

NIEER national press release

Read the New York Times coverage of the NIEER's report on the state or Pre-K education

NIEER website