Marshall County Pre-School

West Virginia is providing better access to preschool programs and dedicating more dollars to the effort than most other states in the country. The State of Preschool: 2005 State Preschool Yearbook compiled by the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University ranks all 50 states on access to, resources for and quality of state preschool initiatives in the 2004-2005 school year.   In 2005, West Virginia was ranked fifth behind only Oklahoma, Georgia, Texas and Vermont, in providing access to state-funded early childhood education for 4-year-old children. West Virginia improved from sixth place in the 2004 Yearbook.  The state also is ranked 10th in the amount of money it spends per child at $4,323. In 2004, West Virginia spent $4,556 per child enrolled in preschool, which placed the state 18th nationally.  West Virginia has passed legislation that requires universal preschool be available to all of the state’ 4-year-olds by the 2012-2013 school year. Half of the programs will be in collaborative settings with Head Start, child care and private programs.