BOISE - Idaho is among states eyeing a $500 million federal grant competition to improve preschool education programs.

But where exactly how the money could be spent in Idaho, which does not fund a statewide prekindergarten program, remains uncertain as officials wait for the U.S. Department of Education to release criteria for the competition.

Idaho policy makers have also been leery in the past about any strings attached to accepting federal grant money.

"I think anytime the U.S. Department of Education announces a grant opportunity we're going to look into it and weigh the options," said state Department of Education spokeswoman Melissa McGrath. "We submitted a letter of intent so we would have that available to us if we wanted to apply."

Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the Early Learning Challenge in May. The program aims to do away with an uncoordinated system of preschool programs that often leave the poorest children without options and allow bad schools to go unchecked.

Education advocates said the federal focus on early learning is critical to making quality preschool and prekindergarten to all children.

The program also represents the third round of the federal government's "Race to the Top" competition, which doled out nearly $4 billion to states last year.

Idaho was among states shut out during the first round of the grant competition.

Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter's office notified the Education Department in July that the state intended to apply for the Early Learning Challenge. The federal government is expected to make applications available to states later this summer.

The money will be handed out before the end of the year.

"In the coming weeks entities and agencies in the state of Idaho will be working on our grant application to meet all applicable state and federal requirements," said Otter's education adviser Roger Brown in a July 14 email to the Education Department.

At least three other states that don't fund pre-K programs - Hawaii, Wyoming and Mississippi - also plan to compete.

"Without knowing anything about the criteria, it's hard to identify states that are going to be front runners and those that are going to be lagging behind," said Marci Young, the project director for the Pre-K Now campaign in Washington.

One of the goals of the grant program is to help states that have traditionally not funded early education programs launch those efforts, Young said.

"A state like Idaho that doesn't have a pre-K program can still use those grants to significantly improve their early learning system," she said. "I think it's an opportunity for the state to start putting into place significant activities that show lawmakers understand and recognize that early learning is a smart investment."