October 16th, 2017 by WCBC Radio

The state’s income threshold for families to qualify for free prekindergarten should be increased by more than 60 percent, a state work group told a legislative panel last week. A state House and Senate committee weighing universal schooling for 4-year-olds met on Tuesday and acknowledged the need for an increase in funding for the early education program statewide. A work group formed to study universal access to prekindergarten was charged in April with presenting a report to the governor and the General Assembly by December. Universal, high quality, full-day prekindergarten should be accessible to all 4-year-old children through a variety of programs and providers with a combination of public and private funding, the state’s education department, presenting the work group’s findings, told the panel on Tuesday.

The legislative committee also took into account a report published in January 2016 by Augenblick, Palaich and Associates, a consulting firm in Colorado, that highlighted the need to offer more access to prekindergarten in Maryland and increase the number of high-quality spots available to serve 80 percent of the state’s 4-year-olds.