A new study from the National Institute for Early Education Research finds that state-funded preschools served more than one million children last year.

However, public pre-kindergarten was unavailable for most three- and four-year-olds. In fact, 12 states offered no state-funded preschool and others faltered in their commitments to high quality early education programs.

Meanwhile, less than half of all four-year-olds were enrolled in government-supported preschool while one quarter received no preschool at all. For three-year-olds, the situation was worse, as only 15 percent were enrolled in public programs and 50 percent received no education at all.

Still, the report notes that enrollment, quality and state spending per child did increase.

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