ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) has released its annual report on preschool access, funding and quality from state to state. According to the “2024 State of Preschool Yearbook,” New York State ranked within the top 10 for preschool access but faltered behind other states on funding.

New York State first began its Universal Pre-Kindergarten program in 1998. The state and federally funded program is voluntary and free of charge to families.

The report, which analyzed the state’s pre-K program statistics and policies, found that nearly 159,000 children enrolled in New York State preschool in the 2023-2024 school year. This marked an increase of over 3,400 from the 2022-2023 school year, with 93% of districts offering state-funded preschool.

Additionally, the analysis divided the total enrollment into two separate age groups — 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds in the state. According to the report, 19% of the state’s 3-year-olds and 56% of the state’s 4-year-olds were enrolled in New York pre-K. As a result, out of all 50 states, New York State ranked seventh in preschool access for 3-year-olds — up from ninth in the previous year — and ninth in preschool access for 4-year-olds — down from eighth last year.

Despite the top rankings in enrollment, New York landed far lower in the amount of funding allocated for prekindergarten programs. According to the NIEER report, the state spent over $940 million to support the pre-K program during the 2023-2024 school year, in addition to over $58 million in federal recovery funds — a total of nearly $1 billion.

With the total funds, the state spent about $6,285 per child enrolled in preschool, the report said, landing New York as 25th in the national ranking for state pre-K resources for the 2023-2024 school year. The number one spot in the report’s ranking was occupied by Washington D.C., which spent $23,785 per child enrolled in preschool.

In addition to enrollment and funding, NIEER also analyzed the quality standards of each state’s preschool program according to the institute’s 10 benchmarks, which include policies on the required degrees for teachers, maximum class size, staff to child ratio and more. According to the report, New York State’s policies technically met only seven of the 10 benchmarks.

The three recommendations that the state did not meet during the 2023-2024 school year included:

• The Assistant Teacher Degree Benchmark, which recommends that all assistant teachers have a CDA credential or an equivalent
• The Staff Professional Development Benchmark, which recommends that both teachers and assistants have at least 15 hours per year of professional development, individual professional development plans and coaching
• The Continuous Quality Improvement System Benchmark, which recommends structured classroom observations and using data for program improvement

The report also stated that one of the benchmarks that the state’s policies technically met — the Teacher Degree Benchmark, which recommends that all teachers have at least a Bachelor’s degree — was not being fully implemented. Only three states’ preschool programs fully met and implemented all 10 NIEER benchmarks, according to the analysis.

Nationally, NIEER reported new records for state-funded preschool enrollment and funding, with over 1.7 million children enrolled and $13.6 billion spent. However, the institute also expressed concerns over federal cuts on education funding and the possibility that early childhood education will be among future targets, reducing pre-K program quality as well as access for children in low-income families.

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