There is a growing recognition on the importance of education in the lives of preschoolers. Preschool is generally recognized as the years before the formal beginning of schooling in kindergarten, whether kindergarten is required by state statutes or not. For the sake of this article preschool education is focused on children who are three- and four-years-old, the pre-kindergarten years. Preschool in two mid-western states, Kansas and Missouri, are being examined, compared and reflected upon as “Laboratories of Democracy.” (author abstract)