Local & State Headlines

SEF wants more slots in Pre-K programs

• Advocacy groups want Georgia’s Pre-K program to receive more Georgia Lottery funding.

Holly McCarthy

ALBANY — Just more than half of the state’s 4-year-olds attend Georgia Pre-K, and groups like the Southern Education Foundation (SEF) want that number to increase.

The education advocacy group discussed its latest report, A Time to Lead Again: The Promise of Georgia Pre-K, Wednesday at Albany’s Hilton Garden Inn. The program was hosted in conjunction with United Way of Southwest Georgia and was attended by educators, school system and social program representatives, and legislators.

SEF found that 55 percent of the state’s 4-year-old population is being served by Georgia Pre-K, which is funded by proceeds of the Georgia Lottery.

Dougherty County’s average is slightly higher at 58 percent. Lee County has 84 percent of its 4-year-olds attending and Crisp County has 81 percent.

Lauren Veasey, program officer for SEF, said the main goal of the organization is to increase Pre-K enrollment to 80 percent of all Georgia 4-year-olds.

The challenge that accompanies that goal, Veasey said, is to increase parental awareness of and access to Pre-K.

“We know that there are parents who want Pre-K for their 4-year-old that are not able to access the program right now, due to several factors,” Veasey said. “It could be that their local program has a wait list.”

According the the Georgia Department of Early Care and Leaning’s Web site, Dougherty County has 16 Pre-K providers. Of those 16 centers, 10 had no available slots.

Veasey said that Pre-K shares Lottery funding with the HOPE scholarship program. Pre-K currently gets 36 percent of those funds, but needs more, she said.

Other SEF goals for Georgia Pre-K are to strengthen curriculum standards, professional development of staff and improve support for low income students.

State Rep. Ed Rynders, R-Leesburg, attended the conference and said that while early education is important for all children, resources should be targeted to those from low-income families.

“Instead of painting with such a broad brush, why don’t we focus on the people that need it the most?” Rynders said. “The data is there to show that early intervention can make a difference in a child’s life, and we just need to make sure that it happens in the areas that need it the most.”

Jeanette Lucus, director of Albany State University’s Early Learning Center, said that early education is beneficial to entire families.

“I’m hoping that this seminar is the beginning of providing resources to educating our parents and also to come up with some type of solution to breaking the cycle,” Lucas said. “Research shows that if you’ve got one parent who’s a parent at 14, 15, or 16, that mom was also a parent at an early age. I’m hoping that through this, reaching the 4-year-olds will be a start to breaking the cycle.”

Lists of Pre-K centers and availability can be found at www.decal.state.ga.us.