Pre-kindergarten plan scores high, but few are enrolled.

Byline: Crystal Bonvillian

Mar. 30--Alabama's state-funded pre-kindergarten program has been ranked among the best in the nation, but only about 2 percent of the state's 4-year-olds take part.

The National Institute for Early Education Research recently announced that Alabama and North Carolina were the only states to score a perfect 10 in its annual report, "State of Preschool: 2006 State Preschool Yearbook." The report ranks the quality of the state-funded pre-kindergarten programs in the 38 states that offer them.

Alabama ranked No. 38, however