States spent $8.7 billion on preschool last school year — a 3.5% increase over the previous year — but publicly funded early-childhood education programs are at risk of experiencing “long-term damage” due to the pandemic’s effect on the economy, according to leaders of the National Institute for Early Education Research.
“The current and looming economic crisis poses a considerable threat to state-funded pre-K,” W. Steven Barnett, NIEER’s senior co-director and founder, said Monday during a press call. “It needs to grow and improve, not just hold on.”
