President Barack Obama will be in metro Atlanta on Feb. 14 to visit Decatur and to highlight Georgia’s successful pre-kindergarten program. The president mentioned of Georgia’s successful pre-K program during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
President Obama is expected to visit Decatur’s College Heights Early Education Center. He will speak at the newly renovated Decatur Recreation Center, where he is expected to address a proposal that would give more children from low-income families a chance to enroll in pre-K programs.
President Obama’s last trip to Atlanta was June 2012, when he spoke at a fundraiser at the Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel and stopped at The Varsity to grab a bite to eat.
The College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center is the official pre-K site for the City Schools of Decatur and offers day care and pre-K classes. The school is on break this week, but students and parents will be given a chance to see the president.
Georgia is considered a leader in early childhood education as the first state to have voluntary pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-olds, regardless of family income. About 84,000 4-year-olds, 60 percent of them from low-income families, are enrolled in the lottery-funded program, though about 8,000 are on waiting lists.
“Less than 30 percent of the nation’s children have access or are enrolled in either Head Start or pre-k, ” said Eboni Howard, a principal researcher and early childhood specialist with the American Institute for Research in Washington.
Early education advocates are thrilled that Obama picked Georgia as the backdrop for his announcement.
