Early Grade Success

In 2011, Texas’ 82nd Legislature made historic cuts to the public education budget totaling $5.4 billion. In 2012, CHILDREN AT RISK conducted a comprehensive research study to provide an objective assessment of the impact on students and classrooms across the state of Texas. Through this assessment, Doing More With Less? Public Education in a New Fiscal Reality, CHILDREN AT RISK learned that some districts were forced to either eliminate full-day prekindergarten programs or reallocate funds to continue providing the same level of programming. This study, The State of Pre-K: Realities and Opportunities in Texas, was conducted with a mixed methods approach focused on assessing the current public prekindergarten program offerings in Texas. The main components of this study consisted of a statewide survey of school districts, case studies of innovative districts, and state policy scans to identify current prekindergarten policies in Texas and other states.