Georgia and Tennessee lawmakers this week are working on budgets that could add 1,000 new pre-kindergarten seats in the Peach State and nearly 300 additional seats in Tennessee.

“Right now that figure is in both the House and Senate versions (of the budget),” Todd Blandin, spokesman for Georgia’s pre-k department Bright from the Start, said about the 1,000 new slots. “The legislature has to pass it, and the governor has to sign it.”

In Tennessee, Gov. Phil Bredesen has asked for $25 million to fund 250 to 260 new seats, Department of Education spokeswoman Rachel Woods said.

“That will be in addition to the 934 slots we already have,” Ms. Woods said. “That’s how much it has grown since 2005, when the governor began using lottery money for funding early childhood education classes.”

Katrina Casteel, director of early child education for Rhea County, Tenn., schools, said the demand for pre-k continues to grow, and it crosses economic lines. Tennessee pre-k seats are reserved for low-income children but Gov. Bredesen wants to make state-funded prekindergarten available regardless of income.

“I’ve heard the argument (against universal pre-k),” Ms. Casteel said. “They probably don’t realize what a waiting list there is. Just by word of mouth, our parents have learned we have a very good program and they want the very best for their children.”

Both states are working on long-term studies of prekindergarten. Georgia this year will began tracking students throughout public school education. Tennessee has started a database, Ms Woods said.

“We have been building our longitude warehouse where we can track all students, including pre-k students,” Ms. Woods said.

The Tennessee comptroller’s office hired a private firm to collect and analyze data from the state’s pilot programs, she said. The state also will collect test scores from third grade students who attended pre-k.

Georgia’s pre-k program operates on a voluntary, first-come, first-serve basis.

“We have five classes,” said Audrey Williams, Whitfield County, Ga., schools pre-k director. “This year, we had 233 kids sign up for 100 slots. We are not meeting the demand.”

Physical space is one of the biggest constraints on prekindergarten seats, educators in both states said. Both states also allow private early child education providers to offer public pre-k classes, which expands the supply.

In Tennessee, private providers partner with schools and use a state-approved curriculum taught by a state-certified teacher. Georgia’s private providers choose from state-approved curricula. Teachers don’t require certification unless they are public school teachers.

“We look at our private providers as our partners,” said Janey Morris, principal of the Four Star Academy in Athens, Tenn. Her school is among only a few buildings in the state that are only pre-k classes, Ms. Morris said.

Private providers are eligible for state funding and they may not charge children for the state-funded programs.

Before the spread of lottery-funded pre-k, Tennessee and Georgia each had pilot programs. They were funded with Title I funds, federal dollars for schools with high numbers of low-income students.

Special education pre-k classes, also federally funded, have been available, as well as Head Start, another federal early childhood education program. Head Start serves a segment of the population with a higher poverty threshold.

“Our program has been successful,” said Maxann Brooks, a pre-k teacher at Graysville, Tenn., Elementary School. “Pre-k helps level the field for children who have not been read to at home and those who have. You can tell the difference.”

Graysville Elementary principal Libby Brown said many children come to school who don’t know colors, the alphabet or numbers.

“It’s not that they are not capable of learning,” Ms. Brown said. “It’s that they have not been exposed, their parents are not trained to know that just reading every day to their child makes a difference.”

TO LEARN MORE

For more information about Georgia’s Bright from the Start program, visit www.decal.state.ga.us.