Louisiana is getting almost $8 million to strengthen the state’s preschool programs, which is a vital need for hundreds of families.
Most of the money is coming from the U.S. Department of Education as a Preschool Development Grant. States compete for those. Another $800,000 will be provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as private matching money that is required by the grant process.
The one-year funding will be used to develop pilot programs for local preschool planning and governance, expand teacher training and support research into shared services like substitute teachers and purchasing. Those could result in important improvements in preschool across the state.
But Louisiana needs to make a much greater investment to provide preschool for all the children who need it.