Minnesota’s spending $250M a year on preschool education. Is it enough?

May 13, 2017

Pioneer Press, Christopher Magan

Every summer, Connie Garling-Squire tries to contact all the families in the South St. Paul school district who have preschool-age children.

As the district’s director of early learning and equity, Garling-Squire knows some parents are unaware of the district’s preschool offerings. The sooner the district can get their children enrolled, the less likely the children are to need extra help later.

“We have a luxury because of the size of our district. It takes a bit of time, but we can do it,” said Garling-Squire, noting that it would be a gargantuan task for larger districts. “About 80 percent of the people we contact are already in one of our programs.”