A recent report showed that Hawaiʻi's public preschool program is one of the highest quality programs in the nation.
It is just one of five states that met all 10 benchmarks by the National Institute for Early Education Research.
"We do have a very, very strong, quality ranking for our public preschool," Executive Office of Early Learning spokesperson Tara Castrovinci said. "And I think that's largely due to the commitment that we have, for implementing high standards in our public pre-kindergarten classrooms. The public pre-K program really emphasizes a developmentally appropriate practice. We have small class sizes, and one of the other things is we are very committed to hiring highly qualified teachers and teaching assistants in most public pre-K classrooms."
She said that the students who have participated in the public preschool program have had better attendance records into elementary school compared to students who did not.
The state public preschool program serves about 5% of four-year-olds and 2% of 3-year-olds in Hawaiʻi. However, that number is growing as more classrooms are created each year.
In 2020, the state Legislature set a goal to expand preschool access to all 3- and 4-year-olds by 2032.
This year, a bill was passed that would expand the state's preschool subsidy program to children under 4 years old as well.
That measure awaits the governor's signature.
