Governor Ivey Celebrates Alabama’s First Class Pre-K Ranked Best in the Nation for 19 Straight Years

MONTGOMERY – Governor Kay Ivey and the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education (ADECE) on Wednesday announced that Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program has once again been recognized for its high quality in the newly released 2024 State of Preschool report. Alabama remains the only state in the nation to achieve this distinction for 19 consecutive years.

“Once again, Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program has proven why it’s the gold standard in early childhood education. For the 19^th year in a row, our pre-K program has been named best in the nation – and that’s no accident,” said Governor Ivey. “It’s a direct result of our strong commitment to giving every Alabama child a strong start. Investing in early education is investing in our future, and I’m proud to see Alabama leading the way.”

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) tracks preschool enrollment, funding and quality across states. The 2024 State of Preschool Yearbook finds Alabama is one of only five states in the country to meet 10 of 10 research-based quality benchmarks making it one of the highest quality pre-kindergarten programs in the nation.

“Over the past 10 years, Alabama has tripled access to the First Class Pre-K program. As a state, we have moved from serving less than 8,000 children in the 2014-2015 school year to now serving more than 24,000 children in nearly 1,500 classrooms. While serving more children is a huge accomplishment, we are most proud of our state’s continued commitment to quality,” said Acting Secretary of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education Jan Hume. “We have built our system on research-based quality benchmarks and are seeing positive outcomes for children who have participated in First Class Pre-K. Alabama’s commitment to quality is a cornerstone of our state program.”

Alabama First Class Pre-K offers 4-year-olds access to prekindergarten programs in their communities. It currently serves more than 24,000 children across all 67 counties in the state.

Research on the program’s long-term impacts shows that children who participated in First Class Pre-K are more likely to be successful throughout their school careers across multiple domains of learning.

Registration for the 2025-2026 school year is now open. Visit children.alabama.gov to register a child for Alabama First Class Pre-K.

###