To answer why this region is unable or unwilling to invest in pre-k, I examined a number of factors to determine what sets these specific states in this particular area apart. Having considered everything from state education spending and political leadership to polling data, demography, and geography, a number of trends emerged that, taken together, may help explain their lack of action when it comes to funding pre-k.

Perhaps the most influential factor is the unique set of political and cultural values that shapes this region and sets it at odds with public pre-k investment. Aside from being some of the most reliably “red” states in presidential elections since 1968, this region has held onto a certain rugged individualist ethos that can be traced from its earliest frontier days to its current resistance to public pre-k. For although the American west is no longer “wild,” the enduring libertarian influence remains a significant part of its political and cultural identity. In fact, a 2006 report from the libertarian Cato Institute found the most libertarian states to be those in the “Goldwateresque, ‘leave us alone’ Mountain West” and New Hampshire. (New Hampshire, the “Live Free or Die” state, also happens to be the one state outside of the Mountain West that does not fund pre-k.) The unique blend of conservatism and libertarianism embraced here manifests itself in a collective exaltation of personal freedom, privacy, and a general skepticism of the government’s role in their daily lives. It would make a certain sense, then, that, in these states where the idea of limited government is venerated, what could be seen as another government entitlement program or an encroachment of the “nanny state” into the domain of child rearing may be looked upon with suspicion.

But political and cultural identity alone does not explain these states’ lack of pre-k investment. After all, similarly conservative and rural states like Georgia and West Virginia have robust public pre-k programs, as do other libertarian-minded, western states like New Mexico and Nevada.

Instead of falling back on regional caricatures, it’s important to look at the actual demographic forces at play. What seems to set these five states apart is a combination of the following three demographic and economic measures: percentage of children in single-parent households, poverty rate, and population density. All four pre-k holdouts in this region rank considerably lower than average on these three measures.

Nationally, an estimated 35 percent of children live in single-parent households, but among the four holdout states, the average is just 28 percent. By comparison, Georgia and West Virginia (those conservative, rural states with robust pre-k programs) have an estimated 39 and 37 percent of children in single-parent households, respectively. And New Mexico and Nevada, comparably rural, western states with relatively large pre-k investments, are at 40 percent.