Although Indiana’s House leadership has already come out strongly in support of expanding the state’s preschool program, key players in the Senate said Wednesday that they remain skeptical about added costs.
Early education advocates want lawmakers to expand funding for pre-K programs but challenges to expansion also include creating or expanding existing highly rated child care programs and recruiting and retaining a well-trained preschool workforce.
The three gubernatorial candidates—Democrat John Gregg, Republican Eric Holcomb and Libertarian Rex Bell—debated issues relating to jobs and the economy at the debate at University of Indianapolis.
The Republicans and Democrats running for governor and state superintendent say they’ll focus their energy on kids, although they have different plans to do so.
Advocates want to see Indiana children from families earning up to at least 200 percent of the federal poverty line have access to high-quality pre-kindergarten programs.
Indiana's governor and legislative leaders have agreed to expand the state's foray into state-funded pre-kindergarten, but uncertainties about its effectiveness are causing some lawmakers to question the scope and cost of such an expansion.
Two top Indiana Democrats on the ballot this November released a plan Thursday for developing a state-funded preschool program that would be available to all Indiana children regardless of family income.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Gregg presented an economic development plan Monday that would make preschool optional for all Indiana 4-year-olds and rebuild Indiana’s image to one that’s LGBT-friendly.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence reversed a previous position and announced on Thursday that he will seek federal money to help expand a pre-kindergarten program for disadvantaged children.
Indiana's new program, open to about 2,300 children in five counties, is blocking children of immigrant families from enrolling if they are not U.S. citizens.
More than 5,000 applications have poured in for the new Indianapolis Preschool Scholarship Program, which has funding for only about 1,300 students, the city announced Wednesday morning.
In a partnership between St. Mary’s Child Center and the Indianapolis Museum of Art, 16 slots are available for students to enroll in a new museum-housed preschool, with classes beginning in August.
A total of 586 potential new spaces are being created in Indiana’s On My Way Pre-K program because of new grants, with 402 of those spaces being available in high-need areas.
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard has signed the city's proposed Preschool Scholarship Program ordinance into law and the program has begun accepting applications.
Indianapolis’ hotly debated preschool program cleared its final hurdle Monday when the City-County Council approved spending $4.2 million to send 1,000 poor children to high-quality preschools later this year.
The goal for the first phase of the program was to enroll 350 children. But because of the high demand, the state plans to enroll 100 additional children.
The Indianapolis business community, led by Eli Lilly and Co., has already netted more than half of its goal to support the city’s recently approved preschool program to provide low-income families with early-education programs.
The City-County Council voted Monday night to approve a $40 million public-private preschool partnership between the city, business and philanthropic leaders.
Indiana's preschool pilot program will begin in January with about 400 openings available in four of the state's largest counties, the program said Wednesday.
Low-income families in five pilot counties could begin enrolling their children in state-funded preschool next month with classes starting in January, state officials said Wednesday.
