Associated Press: Preschool enrollment is up and spending on state pre-K programs is up, too -- but the economic downturn could spell trouble for the nation's youngest schoolchildren, says a report being released Wednesday.

At least nine states, it says, are likely to make cuts to pre-kindergarten programs, including some of the biggest -- California, Florida and New York. Enrollment cuts and delaying expansion plans are some of the steps that states are considering, said one of the study's authors, Steve Barnett, director at the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University.

"A federal initiative is needed to support early learning and development," Barnett said.

The institute is urging the federal government to match state spending with up to $2,500 for every additional child enrolled in state pre-K programs, as a way to grow preschool so that all of the nation's 4-year-olds can have access by 2020.

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