Crisis Looms over Educational Programs

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When Melissa Stanish's daughter, Anna Mack, started in her preschool program last year, she could barely write. By year's end, she could write her first and last name, and was making big steps toward getting ready for kindergarten, Stanish said.

"I liked going to the playground," 4-year-old Anna said. There aren't a lot of neighborhood friends in Carnegie that Anna can play with, Stanish said, so the program was her only frequent chance for socialization.

"There was slides," Anna said. "There was rock climbing and there was two slides."

Stanish worried about what would happen if Anna was one of the 300 children in Allegheny County turned away this year …