Files
Abstract
While state government spending on early education has grown in recent years, accessibility
of preschool programs for rural children remains a problem. Using census-tract data from a
nationally-representative data set on U.S. children, multinomial logit estimation reveals
significant differences in early education experiences between rural and nonrural children.
Both rural children and children of less-educated mothers are less likely to participate in
preschool. This paper concludes by discussing the appropriate role of local, state, or federal
governments in funding rural preschool programs. While early educational investments are
being touted as effective economic development tools, the nature of the positive externalities
associated with preschool makes it unlikely that any single rural community would invest in
high-quality programs without state or federal assistance.