SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois State Board of Education has awarded nearly $270 million in preschool grants to programs around the state.
The board announced Tuesday that the grants will
help fund about 936 programs serving more than 77,000 children in fiscal year
2012.
Of the programs that will receive funding, 478 were
selected by Chicago Public Schools. CPS gets 37 percent of the state's Early
Childhood Block Grant.
The other 458 programs are around the rest of the
state.
The education board says reviewers who selected the
programs took into account their performance on previous grants and student
demographics.
Priority was given to sites that serve a largely
low-income student body and those that have a high percentage of African American
and Hispanic children.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
