A coalition of groups is urging the governor and legislators to provide state funding for a full-day of preschool for four-year-old’s who live in low-income households. The statewide Voluntary Preschool Program currently covers a half day for each four-year-old. Des Moines School Board chair Jackie Norris says four hours of preschool is difficult for working parents to navigate.
Norris says enrolling those 16-thousand four-year-old’s in full day preschool also would open up some child care slots.
Public school districts as well as private and Christian schools may receive state funding for four-year-old preschool. Norris says research shows 90 percent of a child’s brain develops by the age of five and preschool pays dividends in the long term.
Norris says in addition to public school districts, the Iowa Catholic Conference, the Iowa Association of Christian Schools and the Iowa Association of School Boards are part of the coalition calling for this preschool expansion.
If all the four-year-old’s who live in households with an annual income below 185 percent of the federal poverty level were enrolled in full-day preschool, the cost to the state would be 15 million dollars.
