Governor Culver and First Lady Mari Culver visited with 4-year olds at Bidwell Riverside Center in Des Moines to highlight the importance of early childhood education and show the success of the statewide preschool program.
Rod Boshart with Lee News covered their visit. Here's an excerpt from his story:
Gov. Chet Culver said Wednesday the state is getting closer to meeting a goal of providing access to preschool for all 4-year-olds living in Iowa.
Culver said another 4,500 Iowa children will be able to attend a quality preschool in the coming year thanks to legislative approval of the fourth-year of a preschool initiative that eventually will total more than $60 million.
The fiscal 2011 funding will assist an additional 150 school districts and school district collaborations under the statewide voluntary preschool program, he said. It is projected that during the 2010-2011 school year about 21,354 children age 4 years will be served by the preschool program in 326 school districts across the state.
“Four years ago when I was elected, I promised Iowa’s families a voluntary preschool program. In partnership with the legislature, we funded the last installment of my four-year, $60 million commitment to preschool,” Culver said. “And we are not going to stop there. By the 2011-2012 school year, every 4-year-old whose family chooses to enroll them in this program will have access to a quality preschool in their community.”