Connecticut’s state-funded preschools have too few qualified instructors, and not enough children benefit from the programs, according to the results of a national study released today.

Connecticut ranked well in some categories of the study, but did relatively poorly in others, including preschool teacher credential requirements and the number of youngsters with access to a state-funded preschool.

"The State of Preschool" was officially released today by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), based at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

According to the study, which surveyed conditions in 38 states, state preschool programs are failing the nation’s children and advocates improving the system.

"Few set high standards and fewer still provide adequate funding," according to the report.

Connecticut received a rating of four out of a possible 10 on the study’s quality standards checklist.

"Half of the states received five or less, so Connecticut is in the bottom half," said NIEER Director Steve Barnett. "Teacher qualifications [at state-funded preschools] is the most serious problem for Connecticut," he said.

Barnett noted preschools run by Connecticut public schools require a certified teacher for at least 2 1/2 hours daily. However, state-funded preschools outside the public schools system, such as Head Start centers, require teachers with just child development credentials. And they do not need to have college degrees, according to the instructors.

Another shortcoming in Connecticut, according to the study, is that as of academic year 2003-04, only about 12 percent of 4-year-olds had access to such programs, ranking the state 18th out of the 50 states.

Joy Staples, school readiness program manager for the state Department of Education, said the study relied on estimates for this access figure because the state does not collect data for 3-year-olds vs. 4-year-olds, but she essentially agreed with the conclusion.

"We are not serving enough kids," she said. "About 18,000 3-and 4-year-olds statewide are not being served."

The study did include some good news for Connecticut: the state ranked fourth out of the 50 states in the resources category: the amount of money it provided to each child ($5,733) in the preschool program.

Although Barnett said Connecticut spent $35.6 million in 2002-03 for preschools, Staples said this figure was just for "priority schools." She said the total spent was about $40 million.

For the current fiscal year, Staples said, the state is spending a total of about $48 million on its preschool program, serving 7,297 kids.

She noted that when Connecticut began this program in 1997, the total spent was only about $19 million.

"This report helps us to keep our eye on where we need to be," Staples said. "Our goal is by 2012 to have certified teachers for all preschool kids."

Another area for improvement, Staples said, would be eventually to require snacks or meals to be served at all state-funded preschools, as is done in some states.

She said the overall quality standards ranking of four out of 10 is "fair" but it is "not acceptable" and the state must do better.

Staples said she agrees with Barnett’s premise that "we are not serving the needs of preschool children" when in Connecticut the spending per pupil in K-12 is $12,525, but it’s only about half that figure for preschoolers.

The study noted 12 states have no state-funded preschool programs: Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.

But two states have universally-available preschool programs: Georgia and Oklahoma.

"The need for preschool education does not cease when family incomes exceed the income thresholds for targeted state (and federal) programs," the study said. "Children in these families constitute a large under-served population."

In an interview, Barnett said,"access to high-quality state-funded preschool is more the exception than the rule. The instability of these programs is especially unsettling," he added, noting if a state has a bad budget year, preschool spending often is slashed.

Educators widely acknowledge that quality daycare helps prepare children for the rigors of schooling.

"We cannot afford to have a significant part of our population so far behind when they start public education," Barrett said. "They’re not going to be able to close that gap. These are the kids that end up dropping out of school. They’ll have a very difficult job situation."

The NIEER concluded that only three state preschool programs -- in Georgia, Oklahoma and New Jersey’s Abbott district -- are exemplary in ways that make them useful models. Georgia and Oklahoma allow more access to the programs than most states, and Abbot district requires all students to attend the program, according to the report.