Young Learners, Missed Opportunities: Ensuring That Black and Latino Children Have Access to High-Quality State-Funded Preschool

For this report, The Education Trust conducted a first-of-its-kind analysis examining race and ethnicity in state-funded preschool programs across the country. Education Trust analyzed two aspects of these programs: the percentage of a state's Black and Latino 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled by quality of the program and the representation of Black and Latino children in state-funded preschool programs relative to their representation in the state overall. Of the 26 states analyzed, no state provides high quality and high access for Black and Latino 3- and 4-year-olds. Findings include: (1) Far too few Black and Latino children have access to high-quality state-funded preschool programs; (2) Latino children have particularly low access to high-quality state preschool programs; (3) In 11 of 26 states, Latino children are underrepresented in state-funded preschool programs. In three of those states, so are Black children; (4) Access is lower for Black and Latino 3-year-olds than for Black and Latino 4-year-olds; and (5) Far too few state-funded preschool programs collect and report race and ethnicity data.