A business-led coalition of pre-K advocates is asking state leaders to increase funding for Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program by $20 million in the next fiscal year.

The increase would take funding from the state’s high-quality, voluntary pre-kindergarten from $64.5 million to $84.5 million.

“Every dollar invested in high-quality pre-K for 4-year-olds returns 7 dollars later on,” said Allison Muhlendorf, executive director of the Alabama School Readiness Alliance (ASRA). “That is because children that attend high quality pre-K programs are more likely to be reading proficiently in the third grade, graduating from high school, becoming successful in the workforce.”

The ASRA Pre-K Task Force called for the increase at an event Thursday. The goal is to fully fund the state’s First Class Pre-K program by 2023.

Alabama School Readiness Alliance aims for $20 million boost in First Class Pre-K from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program is managed by the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. There are 816 First Class classrooms across the state, but only 25 percent of the state’s 4-year-olds are able to participate in the program due to lack of funding.

Rep. David Faulkner, R-Mountain Brook, said expansion of the program is needed.

“That is not where we want to be, but we are making strides each year and we are moving forward,” Faulkner said. “It doesn’t matter where you’re from or where you live, this is for everybody. This is to make Alabama better.”

The Alabama School Readiness Alliance wants to see First Class Pre-K programs, like the one at First Church Birmingham Early Learning Center, available to all students in the state. (Brittany Faush-Johnson / Alabama NewsCenter)

When combined with funding from year three of Alabama’s four-year federal Preschool Development Grant, a $20 million increase would add about 160 new classrooms and help enroll about 2,880 additional 4-year-olds next school year. That would take the percentage in the state from 25 percent to 30 percent.

“Every successful businessperson knows that a company’s long-term success is dependent upon keeping one eye on what’s working now and another eye toward the future,” said Mike Luce, co-chair of the ASRA Pre-K Task Force. “The same is true in education. Investments in high-quality pre-K remain our state’s best strategy to prepare our children for school and beyond.”

More than 40 prominent leaders from the business, education, civic, medical, legal, philanthropic, military and child advocacy communities make up the ASRA Pre-K Task Force. The Task Force launched a 10-year campaign in 2012 calling for incremental increases to fully fund the program by the 2022-2023 school year. The proposed $20 million increase for 2018 is needed to meet that target.

Faulkner was joined by Rep. Rod Scott, D-Fairfield. Scott called on citizens to voice their support of pre-K funding to their legislators.

The Alabama School Readiness Alliance wants to see First Class Pre-K programs, like the one at First Church Birmingham Early Learning Center, available to all students in the state. (Brittany Faush-Johnson / Alabama NewsCenter)

“Rod and I are both part of the Jefferson County delegation and we both support this so much,” Faulkner said. “We believe it’s the future for our state. We believe that the Legislature must back the funding for this program. We wanted to be here today to show our support for that pre-K program.”

Hallie Bradley, manager of Community Initiatives at Alabama Power and a Pre-K Task Force member, and Auburn University Trustee Liz Huntley joined Faulkner and Scott in unveiling the ASRA Pre-K Task Force’s proposal at the First Church Birmingham’s Early Learning Center. First Class Pre-K parent Margaret White and First Church Birmingham Early Learning Center Director Robin Pate also shared their praise of the program.

Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program has been ranked the No. 1 state-funded pre-kindergarten program in the country for quality for 10 years in a row by the National Institute for Early Education Research.

A study by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama found that students who participate in Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program consistently outperform their peers in reading and math on state assessments. Additional studies nationally have found that students who attend a high-quality pre-K program are more likely to graduate from high school and find success in the workforce. They are also less likely to commit a crime or rely on social welfare programs as adults.

In addition to the increased funding, the Task Force released an updated list of other recommendations, which can be viewed here.