Georgia

Georgia’s universal prekindergarten initiative began with the creation of the Georgia Lottery for Education in 1990.Initially, a pilot serving at-risk 4-year-olds, the Georgia preK was universally opened to all 4-year-olds in 1995. Long an example of program integration – Bright From the Start is offered in public schools, Head Start sites, and both for-profit and non-profit private childcare centers – in recent years it has become a model of underfunding with only one 2% increase in operations funding noted since program inception.

In FY 2006-2007, ECEC embarked on an effort to address funding issues in the program.We worked with leadership of the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning and reached out to Governor Sonny Perdue, stressing that stagnant funding risks program quality. In May, Georgia put through a 2.4 percent increase in operations funding! Importantly, the Legislature also appointed a commission to study the financing of Georgia preK.


ECEC Partners
Georgia Child Care Association

Other Organizations
Georgia Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies
Georgia Association for the Education of Young Children
Voices for Georgia’s Children

State Agencies
Child Care Subsidy Agency
Georgia Licensing
Division of Family and Child Services