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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 4, 2003

News Release

NEA Delegates Call for Universal
Pre-K and Full-Day Kindergarten 

'Attempts to close the achievement gap are starting too late'

New Orleans, La -- The National Education Association (NEA) today put the muscle of 2.7 million educators behind a push for full-day kindergarten and universal preschool.

The vote by nearly 10,000 delegates at NEA's Annual Meeting here approved a new Association policy that calls on states to provide full-day kindergarten for all children. The new policy also supports the creation of publicly funded, universal preschool programs for all three- and four-year olds. The preschool programs would be optional for interested families.

"We know that a high quality education before a child turns five yields lifetime benefits," said NEA President Reg Weaver. "We know that children who attend full-day kindergarten are better prepared intellectually, socially, and psychologically than children who attend kindergarten for half-days. We know that attempting to repair reading skills in the fourth grade is far more expensive and risky than guaranteeing good pre-reading skills in preschool and good beginning reading skills in kindergarten.

"If no child is to be left behind, we need to start earlier with every child.  Attempts to close the achievement gap are starting much too late."

The newly adopted policy calls for:

• Free, publicly funded, quality kindergarten programs in all states.  Nine states still do not require districts to offer kindergarten, though every state subsidizes kindergarten in at least some districts or for a portion of the school day.  (Education Week, Quality Counts 2002)
• Mandatory full-day kindergarten.  Just 14 states require school districts to offer full-day kindergarten.
• Optional free, publicly funded, quality "universal" pre-kindergarten programs for all three- and four-year-old children whose parents choose to enroll them.  Three states are moving toward such a program - Georgia, New York and Oklahoma.
• Federal funds to make pre-kindergarten programs available for all three- and four-year-old children from disadvantaged families.  State and local governments should provide the additional funds necessary to make pre-kindergarten available for all three- and four-year old children.
• Dedicated funding for early childhood education.  Public schools should be the primary provider of pre-kindergarten programs, and additional funding must be allocated to finance them in the same manner as K-12 schools.

The report also recommends that NEA develop and make available to its state affiliates model legislation providing for mandatory full-day kindergarten and optional full- or half-day pre-kindergarten.

The Special Committee on Early Childhood Education comprises 17 members, who broadly represent NEA's membership and have particular expertise in early childhood education.  Executive Committee Member Michael Marks serves as chair of the committee. 

The NEA Annual Meeting continues through July 6. 

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.