A larger percentage of Kansas 4-year-olds attended state-funded preschool during 2002-2003 than in most other states.

But a new national study being released today by a research institute at Rutgers University in New Jersey found Kansas spent less money per child on such programs.

“We have room for improvement,” said Cris Anderson, principal at East Heights Early Childhood Family Center. “This is an area that we need to continually be wanting to do better.”

Kansas spent about $9.35 million on the more than 5,000 children — about 15 percent of Kansas 4-year-olds — who attended state-funded preschools during the 2002-2003 school year. And nearly 5,000 children attended state-funded preschool programs in 2003-2004, costing the state about $11.5 million.

Nationwide, about 10 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds attend state-funded preschool programs, the study found.

Kansas enrollment for this fall was not immediately available. The state’s preschool program is not open to 3-year-olds.

While families can help their children learn at home, some parents dropped out of high school or grew up not speaking English, said W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers.

“Every day that we don’t invest in high-quality preschool programs is another day we have tremendous costs of failing to do that,” he said.

One study showed that children who attended good preschool programs were more likely to graduate from high school and less likely to go to prison as adults, Anderson said.

Joshua Clark explains to teacher Becky Ruhl and his classmates the turkey he made during their preschool program for 4-year-olds at East Heights Early Childhood Family Center. A national study has ranked Kansas low compared with other states in how much money it spends on such preschool programs.

Children who attend Kansas’ state-funded preschool programs must come from poor or disadvantaged families or be referred by an agency.

In a brightly decorated classroom at East Heights last week, one girl sucked her thumb and watched “Rugrats” until one of the teachers called the children to sit on a colored rug.

“Seven little, eight little, nine little turkeys, 10 little turkeys in the barnyard!” teacher Jill Anderson and the 4-year-olds sang, holding up fingers to count.

The children had made turkey artwork and pumpkin pie earlier in the day.

“This is my passion,” said Jill Anderson, who has six children learning English in her class of 18. “My passion is just to make them successful.”

Jill Anderson and Cris Anderson are not related.

About 125 children attend the state-funded preschool program at East Heights, 1430 Haskell Ave. The school receives state, federal and district aid for some of the c hildren because they are special-education students.

East Heights received about $185,000 from the state this year for the rest of the students. The Lawrence Schools Foundation also chips in about $140,000 each year so East Heights can offer all-day preschool, Cris Anderson said.

The study ranked Kansas 14th in the percentage of 4-year-olds enrolled in the preschool programs in 2002-2003 but 34th in the amount of money the state spent for each child.

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Twelve states have no preschool programs, so Kansas ranked 34th out of the 38 states that do offer state-funded preschool.