Around 3,300 Minnesota children will be able to enroll in free pre-kindergarten programs this year thanks to $25 million in state funding approved during the most recent legislative session.
Governor Dayton says, however, the state still has a long way to go toward pre-k for every Minnesota four-year-old and it’s a priority of his next session. Dayton says “we need all kids to do well. We need all of them to get the best possible education and just be as advanced as they can be and everyone will benefit from that. So I would say say the cost of not doing this greatly exceeds the cost of doing it.”
Around 60-percent of public schools and charter schools that applied for pre-k funding did *NOT* receive state aid this year.
View a map of districts that applied, who received funding and who did not, here.