After developing the national model for early education, Georgia is now playing catch-up with other states that have surpassed it in pre-K enrollment. One thousand new slots have been added for the coming school year, but it’s not known how many kids are on waiting lists. There’s no accurate tracking of waiting lists and they vary from county to county. There is plenty of money, as the state lottery reserve fund has ballooned. The issue appears to be a matter of physical space.
Georgia has changed the criteria for deciding where to add pre-kindergarten classes, and Barrow and Clarke counties will be at the top of the list this year as officials prepare to divvy up money for 1,000 new seats for 4-year-olds.
State administrators will use enrollment figures, the number of students on waiting lists for filled classes and the graduation rates of high school seniors to decide what parts of the state most need additional pre-K seats.
Pre-K administrators used to dole out funding based only on enrollment figures – also referred to as the saturation rate – said Mary Mazarky, an assistant commissioner of Bright From the Start, the state agency in charge of childhood education.
Registration for pre-K, which is intended to help 4-year-olds learn the skills they need to know before kindergarten, started at Clarke County’s 13 public elementary schools and private child care centers in March and should continue until the first day of school in August.
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