Right to Pre-K

Source: NIEER.org

A new report makes a practical, policy and political case that preschool is fundamental to our nation's free public education system and that universal access should be a constitutional right.

"A wealth of new research and political developments around the country support the position that pre-K must be accessible to all children at age three as a core part of their right to a free public education," according to the report.

Establishing Universal Access to Prekindergarten as a Constitutional Right, published by The Center for Educational Equity (CEE) at Teachers College, Columbia University and the Center for Children's Initiatives (CCI), cites evidence of benefits to children and communities; defines what such a right would entail and reviews state legal precedents for establishing such a right.

"We contend that policy commitments alone, without the bedrock of a well-defined right to early education, fall short," the report states.

Today, access to high-quality pre-K varies widely between states and within states--even from one year to the next--based on fiscal conditions and political will. For example, pre-K expansion in most states stalled for years following the 2008 Great Recession, and state preschool funding per child did not rebound to pre-recession levels until 2015-16, according to The State of Preschool 2016. 

To ensure that financing is stable and sustained, the report recommends states integrate preschool funding into their K-12 funding formulas, with allocations protected for preschool. A 2016 NIEER study determined use of the school funding formula is associated with greater adequacy and stability in pre-K funding.