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State Profiles
Virginia
Virginia is truly a state to watch for pre-k. Virginia business leaders and policy makers understand that education reform begins with high-quality pre-kindergarten. The Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) targets at-risk four year olds throughout the state and fulfills 8 out of 10 NIEER quality standards.
Key Milestones
| 1995 |
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The Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) is created by Governor George Allen to serve eligible children not served by Head Start and special education programs. The full-day program is targeted to at-risk four year olds, based on locally established risk factors. Funds are filtered through the public school system and require local contributions based on the financial ability of each community. |
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| 2004 |
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Programs are given the option of providing either half-day or full-day programs. Providers offering half-day programs receive 50 percent of the funding available to full-day program providers. |
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| 2005 |
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On the recommendation of the newly formed Early Learning Council, Governor Mark Warner launches the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation/Smart Beginnings , a public-private partnership charged with setting and executing an aggressive agenda to improve the lives of young children that includes early education initiatives. Governor Warner spearheads funding increases to provide public schools with enough money to fund pre-k for 100 percent of at-risk four year olds not enrolled in Head Start, up from funding for only 60 percent previously. |
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| 2006 |
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Governor Tim Kaine establishes the Start Strong Council, the members of which represent a wide range of community interests. The council is charged with developing goals and best practices for expanding programs for four year olds, creating quality and implementation guidelines for Start Strong programs, developing a grant-distribution process, and recommending funding strategies and increases. |
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| 2007 |
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Governor Kaine proposes $4.6 million for a new pilot pre-k program as part of VPI that promotes diverse delivery of pre-k. The legislature appropriates $3.5 million for the pilot.
Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission studies VPI and finds that children who participated in VPI were significantly better prepared for kindergarten than their peers who did not participate.
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| 2008 |
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In his FY09-FY10 budget, Gov. Kaine proposes a substantial expansion of the Virginia Preschool Initiative with a 20 percent funding increase during the first year of the biennium. The proposal would raises per-child investment from $5,700 to $6,790, and over two years would make pre-k available to 4,800 more low-income children.
In order to offer working families more high-quality options, 10 percent of the new slots would be guaranteed to community-based settings.
The General Assembly votes to increase the VPI budget by $8 million for FY09 and another $6 million for FY10.
Classrooms are now required to follow newly revised early learning standards, which include science, history, and expanded social and cognitive development. |
| 2009 |
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Although a small, mid-year cut was made to the FY10 appropriation for pre-k, the General Assembly restored most of that cut in its FY11 budget, bringing pre-k funding to $67.6 million. |
Pre-K Champions
Pre-k has a strong reputation of bipartisan support in Virginia. Former governor George Allen created the Virginia Preschool Initiative in 1995. Former governor Mark Warner worked to improve and expand the Virginia Preschool Initiative during his term from 2002-2006. Former Governor Tim Kaine created the Start Strong Council, a body dedicated solely to promoting high-quality pre-k through policy recommendations aimed at increasing access and improving the quality of existing programs.
Voices for Virginia's Children advocates on behalf of children through outreach, education, coalition building, and research. Voices for Virginia's Children currently spotlights early care and education, along with foster care and adoption, health and mental health, and family economic success.
JustChildren, a project of the Legal Aid Justice Center, works together with Voices and education groups across the state to raise the profile of pre-k.
Next steps for Virginia
Virginians will look to Governor Bob McDonnell and leaders in the General Assembly for continued support of pre-k as a long term strategy for economic development. Advocacy groups must be persistent in their efforts to educate lawmakers about the multiple educational and economic benefits of investing in high-quality pre-k. Pre-k policy should encourage collaboration between private and public pre-k providers in order to maximize the number of children served in VPI.
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Redefining ESEA
Looking for resources on pre-k and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)? See our web page and PowerPoint presentation on the topic here.
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Explore the Pre-K Evidence
Our collection of original reports and links to other studies will give you a deeper view into pre-k policy.
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The Case for Pre-K in Education Reform
Fifty years of evidence shows that high-quality, voluntary pre-k is among the best strategies for education reform. Our brief highlights findings from the latest state pre-k program evaluations that continue to document gains in key measures of student learning, including early literacy, math and vocabulary; reduced need for special and remedial education; and lower incidences of grade retention.
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Meeting the Challenge of Rural Pre-K
Families everywhere struggle to find high-quality pre-k programs for their children, but the problem is even more acute in rural areas. Pre-K Now has come out with recommendations for federal policymakers to help states meet the unique challenges of rural pre-k.
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Tour a Pre-K Classroom
Through our virtual classroom tour and our short video following real children through their pre-k year, we will help you recognize high quality, understand why it makes a difference, and show you how children benefit.
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Pre-K: The First Step in Education Reform
