The latest federal education news could mean big things for Austin.

Nine states, including Minnesota, will share $500 million in grant money won in the “Race to the Top” competition intended to jump-start improvements in often-overlooked early childhood programs.

The winners to be announced Friday at the White House are California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the winners had not been officially announced.

“That’s good news,” said Amy Baskin, director of community learning at Austin Public Schools.

Though it’s unclear how the money will affect the state’s early childhood education programs, Baskin said Austin’s more than 30-years-old program would be in great shape should there be an opportunity to apply for funding.

“Austin is in a very good place,” she said.

The money to aid the nation’s youngest learners is part of the Obama administration’s cornerstone education initiative — the “Race to the Top” grant competition — which has states competing for federal dollars to create programs that make schools more effective. Last year, it distributed $4 billion in similar grants focused on K-12 education.

The goal of this competition is to get more children from birth to age 5 ready for kindergarten. Thirty-five states along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico applied for the chance to win between about $50 million to $100 million apiece in prize money. The winnings are to help build statewide systems that affect all early learning programs, including child care, Head Start centers and public or private preschools.

Billions are spent annually in America on early education programs, but the quality and availability of those programs varies greatly. Roughly half of all 3-year-olds and about a quarter of 4-year-olds do not attend preschool, said Steve Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University.

Kids who attend quality early education programs have been shown to do better in school, be less likely to spend time in prison later and to make more money as adults.

“Investments in early childhood pay long term dividends,” Baskin said.

—The Associated Press contributed to this report