Cooper and School

Found out today, Cooper probably won't be starting Pre-K, afterall. Which is fine. But I was surprised how the county/NC runs the Pre-K program. Apparently the 3 year old Pre-K spots in our county are reserved for low income and/or developmentally neediest children; Cooper fits neither criteria. He'll be on the rolls for August for the 4 year old class, which also has restrictions, but less stringent. However no matter what, all children are guaranteed Kindergarten at 5. I find it interesting that the No Child Left Behind accounts for Kindergarten, but if a public school system offers Pre-Kindergarten, they are not under the same obligations to offer this to all children. The program paperwork indicated of those who apply, roughly 50% actually get into a Pre-K program, which means the first time they'll see a school is at 5ish at Kindergarten.