The data had a lot to say about our youngest learners:

�       Public preschool access not yet a reality for much of the nation: About 40% of school districts do not offer preschool programs.

�       Part-day preschool offered more often than full-day: 57% of school districts that operate public preschool programs offer only part-day preschool.

�       Limited universal access to preschool: About half of the school districts that operate public preschool programs limit access by family economic level or other categories.

�       Kindergarten retention disparities: Native-Hawaiian, other Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Native-Alaskan kindergarten students are held back a year at nearly twice the rate of white kindergarten students. Boys represent 61% of kindergarteners retained.

�       Suspension of preschool children (new for 2011-12 collection): Black children make up 18% of preschool enrollment, but 48% of preschool children suspended more than once. Boys receive more than three out of four out-of-school preschool suspensions.

"These data are providing-and will continue to provide-important markers and starting points for discussion at our Department," promised Secretary Duncan. "Our work is motivated by the belief that all students, regardless of race, gender, income, disability, and English Learner status, need and deserve a world-class education." While there is no magic bullet that will fix the opportunity gap crisis in America, the CRDC creates urgency for us to find multiple ways to address lack of preschool access and alarming news on suspensions and expulsions.  Director of Yale's Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy Walter S. Gilliam provides guidance to help policy makers and others help reduce these disparities.

As U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stood with Secretary Duncan, he predicted that "...America's future will be defined, and our progress determined, by the doors we open and the support we offer to our nation's young people. From bolstering early childhood education to promoting youth literacy; from increasing mentorship to reducing juvenile violence; from extending access to social services to expanding employment opportunities - I'm convinced that, so long as we work together, we'll be able to empower millions of students to pursue their dreams, to achieve their full potential, and to forge the better, brighter futures they deserve."