Chalkbeat

NYC schools chancellor hints at reversal of hundreds of millions in preschool cuts

2024-03-18T21:11:10+00:00

New York City Mayor Eric Adams could soon reverse a major budget cut to early childhood education, schools Chancellor David Banks hinted Monday.

Adams previously announced $170 million in cuts from city funding to free early childhood education programs effective next fiscal year as part of sweeping citywide cuts in November and January.

On top of that cut from the city’s coffers, prekindergarten programs are due to lose one-time federal pandemic aid that expires this summer. Roughly $92 million in federal aid is going toward supporting this year’s 3-K program for the city’s 3-year-olds, and another $90 million is helping pay for special education programs for preschoolers.

The city is facing a total “fiscal cliff” of nearly $1 billion next year, and advocates have been sounding the alarm for months on the need to come up with new funding to replace those disappearing federal dollars.

At a City Council budget hearing Monday, Banks called the city cuts “extremely hurtful to the entire enterprise of early childhood,” and said he was “fighting like heck to get these cuts restored.”

Though he didn’t commit to anything specific, Banks said, “I have great confidence in the coming weeks we will have really good news around early childhood.” He added, “The mayor’s office, City Hall, feels the same way.”

Asked later in the hearing by Council member Jennifer Gutiérrez (D-Brooklyn) which specific funding streams he’s fighting to get restored, Banks named the $170 million city cut. He also cited the expiring $92 million in federal funding for 3-K this year. Deputy Chancellor Emma Vadehra mentioned the $90 million in federal money for preschool special education seats that will dry up after this year.

The early childhood cuts, if reversed, would be the latest item slashed by Adams in recent months to get restored thanks to what city officials describe as an improving budget picture.

Adams has also announced restorations of cuts to the police, fire, and sanitation departments, as well as a $10 million cut to community schools that partner with community organizations to provide extra support to families. More recently, the city promised to allocate additional funding to bring back popular food items that were cut from school cafeteria menus in February.

Adams had initially planned another round of city budget cuts in April, but canceled those cuts last month.

Critics of the cuts have long contended that they were never necessary in the first place, and that city officials were being overly pessimistic with their financial predictions to create more pressure on the federal government to boost funding for the city’s influx of migrants.

The cuts and subsequent reversals have created a whiplash that’s been disorienting even for seasoned budget watchers.

Early childhood education advocates have warned that the early education cuts could have devastating consequences and force the city to permanently close seats.

If the city comes up with money to replace the expiring federal money for 3-K and special education preschool programs, it would mark the city’s largest commitment yet to replace an education program at risk from the fiscal cliff.

So far, the city has only committed $80 million to keep Summer Rising, a free academic and recreational summer program, going this year. Promising to prop up 3-K and special education preschool funding after the federal aid expires would prevent significant cuts to seats and drastic pay cuts for preschool special education teachers.

Even if cuts are reversed, preschool program face challenges

City officials conceded Monday that some 600 preschoolers with disabilities are still languishing without adequate preschool seats, despite federal legal mandates and the city’s own promise to get every child a seat.

And even before this year, Adams had already curtailed former Mayor de Blasio’s plans to aggressively expand the city’s free 3-K program to make it universal. De Blasio’s vision was largely funded with one-time federal pandemic aid, raising questions about its sustainability, and when Adams took office, he seemed to be hobbling the program. Program providers complained of rising payment delays and lackluster outreach from city officials.

Adams administration officials have contended that they’ve simply been right-sizing the program, and that they still plan to be able to offer a 3-K seat to any family that wants one. They have also argued that the existing seats aren’t properly distributed, with some neighborhoods seeing lots of open seats, while others have much more demand than supply.

Deputy Chancellor Kara Ahmed, who oversees early childhood education, said the city has cut roughly 8,000 seats that weren’t being used and redistributed 7,000 to other programs to parts of the city where they’re more likely to be filled.

Making matters more complicated, officials said Monday they’re still waiting on the results of a $760,000 study commissioned more than a year ago from the consulting company Accenture mapping out the city’s preschool seat needs. Banks said he expects the Accenture report in early April.

Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.

Bill to overhaul Colorado’s child care subsidy program clears first legislative hurdle

2024-03-12T21:15:29+00:00

The price tag of a bill to overhaul a Colorado program that helps low-income families pay for child care shocked some lawmakers Tuesday, but that didn’t stop a legislative committee from giving it initial approval.

House Bill 24-1223 would simplify the application process for the $156 million subsidy program the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program or CCCAP. It would also boost subsidy amounts for some families, make the program more attractive to child care providers, and cover child care tuition for the children of some full-time child care employees regardless of family income. Some of the proposed changes wouldn’t take effect until 2026.

The House Health and Human Services Committee approved the bill in an 8-4 vote Tuesday, with the most vociferous opposition coming from Rep. Richard Holtorf, a Republican representing several northeastern Colorado counties. He expressed concerns about the bill’s cost — about $81 million in the first year — among other things.

“When I first saw this bill and the fiscal note, I was shocked,” he said.

Rep. Lorena Garcia, a Democratic co-sponsor of the bill, noted that some of the bill’s provisions are part of new federal regulations and will come with federal money to pay for them.

“This is not the first time that the state has to preemptively pass policy in order to be able to draw down federal dollars,” she said. “In this case … we are extending the timeline out for two years. If something happens where these dollars then do not become available, we have time to correct.”

The bill’s next stop is the House Appropriations Committee.

Key provisions of the amended bill include:

Limiting parent co-pays to no more than 7% of family income, down from the current cap of 14%. An amendment approved Tuesday would delay the effective date of this provision to July 1, 2026.
Creating a uniform statewide application that doesn’t ask for extraneous information, such as custody agreements or child immunization records.
Allowing families to get or continue receiving child care aid for 90 days while their application or renewal paperwork is being reviewed, a provision that will help parents start working immediately and keep children in care. An amendment approved Tuesday would delay the effective date of this provision to July 1, 2026.
Paying child care providers who accept subsidies based on the number of subsidized children enrolled, not on the number of days those children attend. Currently, providers can lose money for days the child is absent beyond the number allowed by their county.
Making child care employees eligible for full subsidies regardless of their family income. An amendment approved Tuesday would limit this benefit to full-time child care employees who work at a facility that accepts CCCAP subsidies.

More than 20 people testified about the bill at Tuesday’s hearing, including single mothers who have used the subsidy program, providers who accept the subsidies, and advocates from groups such as Healthier Colorado, the Colorado Children’s Campaign, and the Women’s Foundation of Colorado.

Most expressed support for the bill, but a few, representing counties, voiced concerns.

Katie First, legislative director at Colorado Counties, Inc., a group that represents county commissioners, said allowing child care employees to access subsidies regardless of family income could take aid away from other families who need it.

“While we appreciate the need to support and recruit child care providers, we fear that prioritizing these providers will decrease the number of low-income families that we would be able to serve in our community,” she said.

Child care is a low-wage, high-turnover industry with many providers facing staff shortages in recent years.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

El programa de preescolar universal de Colorado podría prohibir la enseñanza religiosa el próximo año

2023-12-11T23:49:26+00:00

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Cuando la maestra Corrie Haynes les preguntó a los estudiantes de preescolar sentados sobre la alfombra verde frente a ella lo que era un pecado, un niño pequeño contestó muy seguro: “Todas las cosas malas que hacemos”.

“Muy bien”, Haynes contestó.

Luego, los 13 niños, la mayoría de ellos vestidos con una camisa tipo polo de color rojo granate o azul y faldas o pantalones oscuros, aprendieron que todos pecamos—hasta los maestros, las mamás y los papás y el pastor de la iglesia—y que aunque Dios odia el pecado, no odia a las personas que cometen pecados.

“Él nos sigue queriendo mucho, hasta cuando pecamos”, Haynes dijo.

Un minuto después, Haynes guio a los niños de 4 años para que cantaran una canción sobre los modales: “Siempre digan ‘gracias’, siempre digan ‘por favor’. Cuando no somos agradecidos, Dios no queda complacido”.

Este tipo de contenido religioso por mucho tiempo se ha integrado en las lecciones de Landmark Preschool, un programa de educación preescolar ubicado en la Iglesia Bautista Landmark en la ciudad de Grand Junction en el oeste de Colorado. Lo que es diferente este año es que las personas que pagan impuestos en el estado están cubriendo los costos—más de $100,000—para que 20 estudiantes en edad preescolar asistan a este programa.

Colorado invitó explícitamente a los preescolares religiosos para que participaran en su nuevo programa de preescolar universal valuado en $322 millones, el cual, a pesar de tener un lanzamiento dificultoso ha sido popular entre las familias. Pero los representantes estatales han enviado mensajes confusos sobre si los preescolares pueden ofrecer una enseñanza religiosa durante el horario de clases financiado por el estado. Antes del lanzamiento, dijeron que se prohibía. Ahora dicen que no, pero que el próximo año quizás se prohíba.

Debates sobre si usar o no fondos públicos para financiar la educación religiosa surgen en un entorno en el que hay presiones conservadoras para desarmar ideas históricas sobre la separación de la iglesia y el estado.

Para participar en el programa preescolar universal de Colorado, los centros preescolares, incluido Landmark, tuvieron que firmar un contrato aceptando cumplir varios requisitos, como que no discriminarían debido a la orientación sexual ni la identidad de género. Ese requisito ahora está sujeto a dos demandas legales—uno de una escuela preescolar cristiana en el Condado de Chaffee y el otro de dos parroquias católicas que administran programas preescolares cerca de Denver.

El contrato que los proveedores firmaron no mencionó la enseñanza religiosa.

Lauren Weber, la directora de Landmark Preschool, dijo que esa enseñanza se “incluye en casi todo lo que hacemos”.

Pero algunos expertos dicen que mezclar el dinero público y la educación religiosa va en contra de los cimientos históricos del país.

“Si el dinero de nuestros contribuyentes está financiando el ejercicio religioso … entonces nos estamos poniendo en una posición [en la que] el estado y la iglesia se enredan de tal forma que los fundadores estaban tratando de evitar”, dijo Kevin Welner, director del Centro Nacional de Políticas Educativas en la Universidad de Colorado en Boulder.

El estado planea limitar las lecciones religiosas en el preescolar universal

Los funcionarios dedicados a la infancia temprana en Colorado propusieron prohibir la enseñanza religiosa en una serie de reglas que planean aprobar la próxima primavera. No se sabe bien en qué situación eso deje a los programas como el de Landmark, en el cual los líderes esperan abrir dos salones más para la enseñanza preescolar universal el año que viene.

Históricamente, los jueces en Estados Unidos han mantenido una separación entre la iglesia y el estado, pero la actual Suprema Corte de EE. UU. emitió un fallo el año pasado diciendo que el estado de Maine no puede excluir a escuelas que ofrecen enseñanza religiosa de un programa estatal que paga por la educación privada.

Michael Bindas, un abogado principal con el Instituto para la Justicia, un despacho legal libertario de interés público, representó a los demandantes en el caso de Maine. Bindas dijo que ese fallo deja en claro que pedirles a las escuelas religiosas que eliminen la enseñanza religiosa durante el horario de clases financiado por el estado equivale a discriminación religiosa.

Si Colorado adopta las reglas propuestas que prohíben la enseñanza religiosa durante el horario de preescolar financiado por el estado, dijo, “sospecho que quedará atrapado en años de litigación”.

A Welner le preocupa que algunas enseñanzas religiosas en programas preescolares estén enviando mensajes dañinos a los niños, como por ejemplo si un niño que está cuestionando su identidad de género asiste a un preescolar religioso.

“Existe algo inquietante, por lo menos para mí, sobre el uso de dinero de los contribuyentes para subsidiar la educación de un niño en un entorno que esencialmente está atacando la identidad de ese niño”, dijo.

Parte de la visión del preescolar universal era que los padres eligieran

Desde el principio, los líderes estatales planearon ofrecer preescolar universal en todo tipo de entornos—en escuelas públicas, en centros religiosos y en hogares autorizados por el estado. La idea era darles a los padres muchas opciones, más de las que se ofrecían en programas estatales anteriores.

Casi 50,000 niños en Colorado, la mayoría de 4 años de edad, están obteniendo una educación preescolar gratis a través del programa de preescolar universal. De los más de 1,900 preescolares que se unieron al programa universal, 39 son religiosos, según datos del estado. En conjunto, atienden a alrededor de 930 niños.

Muchos programas preescolares financiados con fondos públicos permiten que los preescolares religiosos participen siempre y cuando la enseñanza religiosa ocurra durante el horario cubierto por mensualidades privadas.

Colorado también planeó tener ese requisito—pero nunca puso las reglas que limitan la enseñanza religiosa por escrito.

Landmark Preschool en Grand Junction, Colorado.

¿Se usará este plan de estudios cristiano en preescolares el próximo año?

Landmark Preschool abrió sus puertas en 2012 y atiende a niños desde bebés hasta en edad preescolar. Cerca de la mitad de ellos son niños con familias de bajos ingresos. Tiene la segunda calificación más alta por la calidad de sus cuidados infantiles según el sistema estatal de cinco niveles.

El programa cuenta con dos salones de preescolar universal, uno que se basa en el juego y otro que es más estructurado, donde enseñan habilidades como la escritura en letra cursiva. Ambos salones usan el plan de estudios Abeka, un plan popular entre las escuelas cristianas y familias que educan a sus hijos en el hogar y que describe a la Biblia como la base de todo aprendizaje.

Actualmente, no hay reglas estatales que rijan los planes de estudios en el preescolar universal, pero representantes estatales planean crear una lista de planes aceptables antes que empiece el segundo año del programa. No se sabe bien cuáles serán los parámetros o si los planes como el de Abeka cumplirán con los requisitos.

Weber, la directora del centro, y Christy Barrows, una administradora en la escuela de kindergarten a 12º grado adyacente a Landmark, dicen que recibieron confirmaciones repetidas de representantes locales del preescolar universal diciendo que su programa y el plan de estudios son aceptables.

“Somos muy abiertos sobre quiénes somos y lo que enseñamos”, Weber dijo. “Les digo a todos [los participantes] de visitas guiadas: ‘Encuentren lo que mejor se adapte a ustedes, y si no es [aquí], está bien‘”.

El centro preescolar acepta a todos los niños, incluidos aquellos con familias LGBTQ, dijo. Pero las decisiones de contratación no son igual de sencillas.

“Tenemos los valores cristianos y la moral y las creencias”, Weber dijo. “Esa [persona contratada] quizás no encaje bien en nuestro centro, porque estaremos enseñando estos valores y si no crees en estos valores, es muy difícil que te contratemos”.

En Landmark Preschool, lecciones sobre la Biblia influyen en la hora de cuentacuentos

Adentro del salón preescolar de Haynes, llegó la hora de contar una historia bíblica sobre la obediencia—específicamente, la obediencia a Dios. Entre pausas para que niños ansiosos se calmaran, Haynes contó la historia de una pequeña niña a quien la robaron de su familia y obligaron a trabajar para el poderoso general Naaman, quien tenía lepra.

“Había enormes llagas por toda la piel de Naaman, y todas estas llagas seguía empeorando y empeorando”, Haynes explicó. Pero la niña intervino para ayudar, sugiriéndole a Naaman que visitara a un profeta.

“La pequeña niña pudo haber dicho: ‘Naaman se merece tener lepra. A mí me robaron de mi hogar y me obligan a trabajar como sirvienta’”, Haynes dijo.

En lugar de eso, “la niña eligió hacer lo correcto y perdonar aunque nadie le dijera que lo hiciera”.

Weber, sentada observando la clase de cerca, está esperando ver qué nuevas reglas los líderes del preescolar universal impondrán y si Abeka formará parte de la lista de planes de estudios aprobados.

“En este momento, está funcionando bien, pero en el futuro, ¿cómo será?” dijo. “Vamos a proceder año con año y ver lo que hacemos”.

Ann Schimke es una reportera principal para Chalkbeat, cubriendo temas sobre la primera infancia y lectoescritura temprana. Comunícate con Ann por correo electrónico a aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Traducido por Alejandra X. Castañeda

Child care aid: Colorado lawmakers want more parents to get it — and more providers to accept it

2024-03-08T22:19:00+00:00

Colorado helps about 17,000 lower-income families pay for child care each year through its child care subsidy program. That’s only a fraction of the families eligible for assistance, and yet there are millions of dollars left on the table every year.

Theresa Ramirez, a single mother in Fort Collins, can attest to one reason why. Although she submitted her annual renewal paperwork early, a lag in getting it processed forced her to quit working for weeks after her baby’s subsidy was canceled.

Now, lawmakers are considering a bill that would overhaul the program, making it easier for families to access, boosting aid for some families, and making it more attractive for providers who accept subsidies. The bill would also cover full tuition for child care employees with kids in child care regardless of family income — a major benefit given the industry’s chronically low wages.

House Bill 24-1223, sponsored by three Denver area Democrats, will be heard in the House Health and Human Services Committee on March 12.

The proposed improvements to Colorado’s subsidy program — officially called the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program or CCCAP — come at a time when many families are struggling with the cost of living and some child care providers are raising tuition to cover their expanding costs. While lawmakers and advocates say it’s high time for fixes that allow more families to get subsidies and entice more child care providers to accept them, one of the bill’s co-sponsors said the price tag could be large. State legislative staff have not yet released the bill’s fiscal note, a detailed analysis of how much it will cost.

Kyle Piccola, vice president of communications and advocacy at Healthier Colorado, said he’s pleased the state is taking a “big holistic approach” to the child care subsidy bill.

“It’s a program that definitely needs improvement,” he said.

Rep. Lorena Garcia, a co-sponsor of the bill, said she’s encountered no opposition to the spirit of the bill, but acknowledged the cost could be a stumbling block for some lawmakers.

“I’m confident we’ll get it to a place where we’ll get it done,” she said.

Colorado’s $156 million child care subsidy program is funded by the federal government, the state, and counties. It’s available to homeless families as well as lower-income families in which parents are working, looking for work, or going to school. Most families who qualify for subsidies still pay a portion of child care costs in the form of a co-pay.

Several advocates and providers interviewed said the subsidy application, which is different in every county, can be invasive and intimidating. That can lead parents to skip it even if they need the help.

Nearly two-thirds of the state’s 64 counties use less than 75% of their subsidy dollars annually and this year, the program is on track to have up to $7 million in leftover funding, according to the Colorado Department of Early Childhood.

“It’s underutilized,” Garcia said.

More aid for families and incentives for child care providers

The bill would make a number of changes required by newly released federal rules aimed at reducing the cost of child care and some changes that are Colorado specific. Key provisions of the bill include:

Limiting parent co-pays to no more than 7% of family income, down from the current cap of 14%.
Creating a uniform statewide application that doesn’t ask for extraneous information, such as custody agreements or child immunization records.
Allowing families to get or continue receiving child care aid for 90 days while their application or renewal paperwork is being reviewed, a provision that will help parents start working immediately and keep children in care.
Paying child care providers who accept subsidies based on the number of subsidized children enrolled, not on the number of days those children attend. Currently, providers can lose money for days the child is absent above the number allowed by their county.
Making child care employees eligible for full subsidies regardless of their family income.

Overall, the bill aims to better serve families that currently receive subsidies, attract new ones, and incentivize more child care providers to accept subsidies.

This year, nearly 26,000 Colorado children get subsidized care through the program, only about 11% of eligible children, according to estimates from Healthier Colorado. Just over 2,000 child care providers accept state subsidies, fewer than half of the state’s providers.

What parents and providers are saying

Ramirez, who lives with her four children in Fort Collins, described CCCAP subsidies as a lifeline that allowed her to work starting when her youngest child, 13-month-old Sarai, was six weeks old.

Ramirez brings home about $1,300 a month from her work cleaning houses. Her co-pay is $4 a month at The Family Center/La Familia, a family resource center that runs a highly rated child care program in the northern Colorado city. Her daughter loves it there, she said.

But when Ramirez lost her subsidy for a few weeks after her renewal application stalled, she had no choice but to bring Sarai home and decline all cleaning jobs. It’s the kind of wrinkle the subsidy bill could help fix.

Under the bill, such cancellations would be averted by giving families what’s called “presumptive eligibility,” essentially a 90-day grace period in which subsidies would start or continue while officials review applications or renewals.

Ramirez said anything in the bill that streamlines and strengthens the application and renewal process will make a difference for families like hers.

Corinne Bernhardt, executive director of Young Peoples Learning Center in Fort Collins, said the plan to give full subsidies to employees will help about a quarter of her 25 staff members. It will also make it easier to hire new employees amid industry-wide labor shortages.

The center’s current staff discount for child care isn’t always enough to get qualified candidates with young children in the door, she said.

“To have to say, ‘Well, we can give you a 50%-off discount, but it’s still going to cost you $1,500 a month to bring your kid here, but we’re only going to pay you $17 an hour,’ a lot of people are like, ‘OK, I guess I’m just going to stay home,’” she said.

Bernhardt said she also likes the provision requiring that providers be reimbursed based on enrollment instead of attendance because it will reduce administrative hassles for her staff.

Overall, she believes by making much needed improvements to the state’s subsidy program, the bill will help Colorado’s economy.

“Parents can’t go into the workforce, if they can’t find child care,” she said.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Is 24 preschoolers in a classroom too many? Colorado will soon decide.

2024-02-23T16:00:00+00:00

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As Colorado leaders prepare for the second year of the state’s popular new universal preschool program, they’re grappling with a hotly debated question.

How many 4-year-olds in a classroom is too many?

Since the $322 million preschool program launched in August, the state has allowed classes of up to 24 children and required one staff member for every 12 students. But many experts and observers believe those numbers are too high and undermine the state’s promise to provide high-quality preschool. They want class sizes capped at 20 and staff-to-student ratios limited to 1 to 10.

Last fall, state leaders appeared ready to phase in the 20-student class size and 1-to-10 ratio limits by 2025. But they’ve faced months of pushback, mostly from private preschool providers. A state advisory committee has also recommended the rules allowing higher class sizes and ratios stay in place.

The final decision rests with Lisa Roy, executive director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. She said in a statement she’s weighing research on the topic and feedback from the advisory committee, and will decide by March 28.

The class size debate highlights one of the key tensions in Colorado’s new preschool program: the need to balance what’s best for young children with cold financial realities. Not only is early childhood education a notoriously low-margin business, but there’s limited state funding for the program.

This year, about 39,000 4-year-olds receive 10 to 30 hours of tuition-free preschool through the program — 62% of that age group in the state. Next year, enrollment is expected to rise.

Because preschool is funded per student, many providers who’ve argued for keeping universal preschool classes of 24 students have warned they’ll lose tens of thousands of dollars annually if they have to drop down to 20 children per classroom and one staff member for every 10 students.

In addition, some say such rules would lead to tuition hikes for hours not covered by universal preschool, push providers to drop out of the universal program, or force them to close their doors permanently.

Dozens of preschool providers and early childhood groups have submitted written comments to the state in recent months about the proposed preschool quality rules. A few providers have endorsed smaller class sizes and lower staff-to-student ratios — but most have not, and several have sharply criticized them.

One private provider suggested that lower class sizes and ratios make sense for preschools run by public schools — which serve most young students with special needs — but not for private preschools. A few commenters noted that Montessori preschools often incorporate 24 or more children of varying ages because students work more independently in such programs.

Ron Montoya, who with his wife owns a Goddard School child care franchise in Westminster, said in an interview that class sizes of 20 would mean he’d have to cut eight universal preschool seats — four from each of his two 4-year-old classrooms.

Fewer spots for children, he said, run counter to “the mandate from the voters and from the governor.”

Universal preschool is one of Gov. Jared Polis’ signature initiatives and is funded partly with a voter-approved nicotine tax. Preschools get about $6,000 for every child enrolled for 15 hours a week. That funding is set to increase by only 2% — about $120 — next year.

Montoya also worries that lost revenue stemming from the proposed class size cap could make it harder to pay teachers a competitive wage.

Class size data hard to pin down

One of the biggest unanswered questions in the class size conflict is how many of the 1,932 preschools in Colorado’s universal program actually have classes of 24 students and staff-to-student ratios of 1 to 12. The state doesn’t track that number.

That makes it hard to know how many universal preschool seats would be lost by changing class size rules. Some preschool providers say thousands of seats would disappear statewide. At the same time, state officials say up to 150 new preschools are poised to join the universal program for the 2024-25 school year, adding new slots to the total.

While Colorado’s licensing rules have long allowed 24 4-year-olds in preschool classes and staff-to-student ratios of 1 to 12, many providers operate with lower numbers for logistical or historical reasons.

Some classrooms simply don’t have the square footage required by the state to accommodate that many kids. Plus, Colorado’s previous state-funded preschool program, which served children with risk factors mostly in public schools, capped class sizes at 16 and staff-student ratios at 1 to 8.

The Durango school district in southwest Colorado continues to run its 13 preschool classrooms with 16 children per class and one staff member for every eight students even though it’s no longer required.

“I think it’s best for kids,” said Jennifer Baufield, the district’s early childhood coordinator. “Our teachers are better able to meet their needs.”

Much is expected of early childhood teachers and smaller class sizes make it easier, she said: “Being a preschool teacher is a stressful job.”

The Denver district, Colorado’s largest, has taken a different tack than Durango. It bumped up class sizes from 16 to 20 when the state’s new universal preschool began last summer.

But Priscilla Hopkins, the district’s executive director of early education, said that’s as high as the district will go except for Montessori classroom settings.

“I like keeping class sizes as manageable as possible because you want strong supervision and high-quality programming and attention for students,” she said.

Denver’s move to a maximum 20 students per class will lead to around 20 preschool classroom closures across the district next year because it will take fewer classrooms to hold the same number of students.

“We are just being efficient and consolidating programs,” Hopkins said.

Experts say smaller class sizes are better

Early childhood groups, including the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University and the National Association for the Education of Young Children, recommend preschool class size maximums of 20 children and staff-to-student ratios of 1 to 10.

Many states with large, publicly funded preschool programs hew to those limits, too.

At a December meeting of the state’s Early Childhood Leadership Commission, co-chair Susan Steele acknowledged the tension in creating high quality preschool with limited funding, but said other states have managed.

“How can they have higher [teacher training] requirements? How can they have lower group sizes? How is that possible other places and not in Colorado? I mean, it doesn’t make sense to me,” she said.

Research on class size is mixed, with some studies finding social, behavioral, or literacy gains for children in smaller classes and others finding no effects. A 2017 study that analyzed decades of research concluded that class size caps of 20 and staff-to-student ratios of 1 to 10 “are largely adequate for most children.”

The same year, another group of researchers that analyzed dozens of studies on staff-to-student ratios concluded that other efforts to boost preschool quality, such as staff training, might yield “better payoffs” than reducing ratios.

Alissa Mwenelupembe, managing director of early learning at the National Association for the Education of Young Children, said it’s clear that young children profit from deep connections with trusted adults.

“There is a point in the size of the group where those deep connections cannot happen,” she said. “The reality is the smaller the group size, the more individual attention and support children can get in the classroom.”

But Mwenelupembe is also sympathetic to preschool providers who’ve long operated with 24 children per class and fear losing money if Colorado’s proposed stricter limits come to pass.

“I think it’s really challenging to turn a ship,” she said. “At the end of the day, we do think lower ratios are better, but we also can’t let go of the fact that early learning programs have to be able to be viable businesses.”

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Ya comenzó el periodo de solicitud para el preescolar gratis de Colorado. Esto es lo que necesitas saber.

2023-02-11T22:02:46+00:00

Nota: Este artículo trata sobre la solicitud de preescolar gratis de 2023 y parte de la información está desactualizada. Para obtener información actualizada sobre la solicitud de preescolar gratis de 2024, lea nuestro artículo actualizado aquí.

Read in English.

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La solicitud para el nuevo programa de preescolar gratis de Colorado empezó a las 8 a.m. del martes, un momento importante en el camino a la apertura del nuevo programa el próximo verano.

El programa, financiado en parte por un impuesto sobre la nicotina aprobado por los electores del estado, ofrecerá entre 10 y 15 horas semanales de preescolar gratuito para todos los niños de 4 años de Colorado, y algunos serán elegibles para 30 horas semanales. Además, algunos niños de 3 años serán elegibles para obtener 10 horas semanales.

Los funcionarios del estado esperan que unos 30,000 niños se inscriban en el programa universal de preescolar en su primer año. Eso representa más o menos la mitad de los que serán elegibles.

Esto es lo que las familias necesitan saber acerca del proceso en línea para solicitar el preescolar:

¿Quién recibirá el preescolar gratis, y cuántos años deben tener los niños?

Tres grupos de niños calificarán: los de 4 años, algunos de 3 años que necesitan ayuda adicional, y un pequeño grupo de 5 años que todavía están demasiado pequeños para ir al Kinder.

Permítenos explicarte. El programa de preescolar nuevo está diseñado para niños en el año antes de ir al Kinder; es decir, los niños que cumplan 4 años antes del 1 de octubre, la fecha límite del estado. El estado pagará por 15 horas semanales de preescolar para estos niños y no habrá costo adicional para los padres. Algunos proveedores de preescolar podrían ofrecer 10 horas a la semana; por ejemplo, un distrito escolar que ofrece clases de K-12 solamente cuatro días por semana.

Algunos niños de 4 años recibirán 30 horas semanales de preescolar gratis, los cuales incluyen niños de familias de pocos ingresos, los que hablan un idioma que no es inglés en el hogar, los que no tienen hogar, los que estén en hogares de crianza, y los que tengan discapacidades.

El programa de preescolar nuevo también cubrirá 10 horas semanales para los niños de 3 años que estén en esos mismos grupos.

¿Y qué tal los niños de 5 años que todavía no están en Kinder?

Algunos niños de 5 años calificarán para el preescolar gratuito y algunos no. Si un niño vive en un distrito escolar cuya fecha límite para cumplir 5 años y entrar al Kinder es antes del 1 de octubre, calificará para el preescolar si cumple años después de la fecha límite y antes del 1 de octubre. Por ejemplo, si vive en un distrito en el que tiene que cumplir 5 años a más tardar el 1 de agosto para ir al Kinder, calificará para el preescolar gratuito si cumplirá 5 años en septiembre.

Los niños de cinco años de edad que cumplen los requisitos de edad para ir al Kinder, pero sus familias prefieren retrasar la entrada a la escuela (una práctica conocida como redshirting en inglés) no podrán asistir al preescolar gratuito en el programa estatal nuevo.

¿Qué necesito para llenar la solicitud? ¿Hay algún requisito de ingresos?

Muchas familias necesitarán unos 15 minutos solamente. La solicitud está disponible en inglés, español y árabe, y los padres deben poder completarla en un celular o computadora.

Las familias cuyos ingresos del hogar califiquen para horas adicionales, o les permitan inscribir a un niño de 3 años, necesitarán subir documentos para comprobar los ingresos. Las familias que ganen hasta un 270% del límite federal de pobreza (unos $81,000 anuales para una familia de cuatro) están en esta categoría.

Si eso describe tu familia, esta página de preguntas frecuentes (FAQ) explica cuáles documentos el estado aceptará como prueba de los ingresos del hogar.

Las familias que califiquen para el preescolar de niños de 3 años o para horas adicionales para niños de 4 años por razones aparte de los ingresos (por ejemplo, su hijo(a) tiene una discapacidad o está aprendiendo inglés) no necesitarán mostrar evidencia de los ingresos.

Esta página de preguntas frecuentes (FAQ) tiene los detalles sobre cuáles documentos el estado aceptará como prueba de los ingresos del hogar.

¿Cómo sabré cuántas horas recibirá mi hijo(a)?

El sistema de solicitud en línea te dirá para cuántas horas es elegible tu hijo(a) después de que indiques algunos datos. Estos son los cuatro posibles resultados:

No serás elegible. Tu hijo(a) no tiene suficiente edad, tiene demasiada edad, o no vive en Colorado.
10 horas: Si tu hijo(a) tiene 3 años y cumple uno o más de los criterios de elegibilidad.
15 horas: Si tu hijo(a) tiene 4 años.
30 horas: Si tu hijo(a) tiene 4 años y cumple uno o más de los criterios de elegibilidad.

¿Podré elegir el preescolar de mi hijo(a)?

Sí. A las familias se les pedirá que elijan hasta cinco preescolares que les gustarían para su hijo(a) y podrán ponerlos en orden de preferencia. Las opciones incluyen preescolares en escuelas, preescolares en iglesias, programas preescolares dentro de centros de cuidado/guarderías, y preescolares en hogares con licencia del estado.

También habrá un mapa y buscador disponible para afinar los resultados. Puedes buscar el programa en el que tu hijo(a) ya está, o explorar opciones nuevas. En cada preescolar se les dará prioridad a los niños que ya están inscritos allí, si uno de sus hermanos está inscrito, o si uno de sus padres trabaja allí.

En algunos casos los proveedores de preescolar podrían no aceptar a un estudiante asignado por el sistema de solicitud. Por ejemplo, un preescolar dentro de una escuela podría rechazar a un estudiante que vive fuera de los límites geográficos del distrito, o es posible que un preescolar dentro de una empresa y que principalmente recibe a los estudiantes de sus empleados no inscriba al hijo(a) de alguien que no es empleado. (Durante el proceso de solicitud, los padres verán una banderita azul para indicar si los preescolares seleccionados les dan prioridad a determinados estudiantes.)

Mi hijo(a) tiene una discapacidad. ¿Cuáles programas de preescolar puedo elegir?

Si tu hijo(a) tiene un plan de educación especial (oficialmente conocido como un IEP, o Individualized Education Program), entonces necesitará asistir a un preescolar del distrito escolar. Esto se debe a la manera en que están escritas las leyes de educación especial.

Si tu hijo(a) no tiene un IEP y te preocupa algún retraso en su desarrollo, comunícate con Child Find, el programa estatal de intervención temprana para niños de 3-5 años.

Mi hijo(a) tiene 3 años. ¿Cuáles programas de preescolar puedo elegir?

Los niños de 3 años principalmente asistirán a preescolares operados en distritos escolares. Algunos niños de 3 años podrían no tener opciones fuera de escuelas, pero solamente si sus distritos escolares tienen colaboraciones con preescolares privados. Esto se debe a la manera en que las leyes estatales de preescolar están escritas.

Los padres de niños de 3 años no podrán seleccionar centros preescolares específicos en el formulario de solicitud del estado. En vez de eso, ellos elegirán su distrito escolar local. Esto se debe a que los distritos escolares son los encargados de asignar a los niños de 3 años a programas preescolares específicos.

¿Qué hago si el proveedor de preescolar de mi hijo(a) no está en la lista?

Los proveedores de preescolar no están obligados a participar en el programa estatal de preescolar universal, pero más de 1,000 ya están participando, y se espera que más de ellos también lo hagan. Los funcionarios del estado dicen que, si los padres no encuentran el preescolar que quieren en el sistema de solicitud, deben comunicarse con el proveedor y alentarlo a que participe.

¿Qué pasa si necesito más horas de las que mi hijo(a) es elegible para recibir?

Tienes la opción de pagar por las horas adicionales a las que el estado cubre gratuitamente, siempre y cuando ese preescolar las ofrezca. También puedes ver si calificas para recibir ayuda financiera por otros medios, como el programa estatal de subsidios para cuidado de los hijos para familias de pocos ingresos, el Colorado Child Care Assistance Program.

¿Necesito llenar la solicitud lo antes posible?

Puedes hacerlo ahora, pero no quedarás fuera si esperas un par de días o semanas. El sistema no atiende en orden de llegada. Sin embargo, las familias que llenen la solicitud durante el primer periodo de solicitud tendrán más opciones y sabrán primero a cuál preescolar han sido asignadas.

El primero periodo de solicitud es del 17 de enero al 24 de febrero, y las familias sabrán cuál es su preescolar el 30 de marzo. (El primer periodo iba a cerrar el 14 de febrero, pero se lo extendió después de que los oficiales descubrieron algunos errores en el sistema.)

Las familias todavía puede llenar la solicitud después del 24 de febrero, y sabrán más tarde en la primavera cuál es su preescolar.

Ya llené la solicitud para el preescolar del estado. ¿Tengo que llenar también la solicitud para elegir la escuela (school choice) de mi distrito escolar?

Posiblemente. Algunos distritos también quieren que los padres llenen formularios para seleccionar la escuela (school choice) si desean que su hijo(a) asista a un centro preescolar del distrito. Eso incluye los distritos de Denver y Jeffco, los dos más grandes. Si eliges un preescolar del distrito, visita la página web de inscripción de tu distrito local para ver si también quieren que solicites allí.

La solicitud estatal determinará si tu hijo califica para recibir educación preescolar gratuita, y en caso afirmativo, por cuántas horas. Esa solicitud también asignará a los niños de 4 años a un centro preescolar específico. El sistema para elegir la escuela del distrito recolecta más información para que los niños puedan inscribirse en el programa que les fue asignado. En el caso de niños de 3 años, el sistema de elección de escuela del distrito es el que asigna a las familias a un centro preescolar específico.

Si las familias no llenan el formulario del distrito, los funcionarios del distrito dicen que se pondrán en contacto con ellas y trabajarán con ellas para que lo hagan. En algunos casos, los retrasos en llenar el formulario del distrito podrían resultar en que las familias tengan menos opciones de preescolar.

¿Qué hago si decido no inscribir a mi hijo(a) en el preescolar que me asignaron?

Tienes la opción de no aceptar el preescolar que el estado le asignó a tu hijo(a). Sin embargo, es posible que tengas que volver a solicitar.

¿Cuándo comenzará el preescolar gratuito en Colorado?

En agosto o septiembre, todo depende de la fecha en que comenzará el programa de preescolar que se te asignó. Las familias se enterarán de su asignación con anticipación, pero la inscripción gratuita no comenzará hasta fines del verano.

Mi hijo califica para el preescolar gratuito. ¿Mi centro de preescolar puede cobrarme cargos o matrícula adicionales?

Sí y no. Depende de cuántas horas semanales de preescolar tu hijo(a) necesita.

Los centros que están participando en el programa de preescolar universal de Colorado no pueden cobrarles dinero adicional a las familias – inscripción, cuotas de suministros o cuotas de actividades – por las horas gratuitas para las que el niño o niña es elegible a través del programa estatal.

Sin embargo, los centros pueden cobrar por las horas que le proporcionen a un niño(a) adicionales a las horas gratuitas concedidas por el estado. Por ejemplo, si un niño de 4 años asiste a 20 horas de preescolar a la semana, pero solamente es elegible para 15 horas gratuitas, el proveedor puede cobrar inscripción por las cinco horas adicionales, más los gastos de suministros o cuotas por actividades para esas horas adicionales.

Tengo más preguntas. ¿Qué debo hacer?

Tienes tres opciones:

Visitar la página de preguntas frecuentes sobre el preescolar universal del estado.
Comunicarte con el grupo local que está coordinando el programa de preescolar universal en tu condado o región. Aquí hay una lista por condado de todos los grupos — conocidos por el estado como LCO, o Local Coordinating Organizations — y sus direcciones de email.
Comunícate con el escritorio de ayuda del estado de lunes a viernes, 6 a.m. a 10 p.m., excepto los días feriados estatales. El teléfono es 303-866-5223 y su email es cdec_upkcolorado@state.co.us.

¿Tienes alguna pregunta que no ves aquí y no puedes encontrar respuesta en otro lugar? Escríbenos a co.tips@chalkbeat.org y haremos lo posible por conseguirte la respuesta.

Ann Schimke es reportera senior en Chalkbeat y cubre temas sobre la niñez temprana y la alfabetización en la niñez temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, escríbele a aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

I’ve worked in child care for three decades. It’s been a long, tough road.

2023-04-07T15:45:00+00:00

In 1994, after earning my master’s degree in early childhood education, I founded Kids Academy Early Learning Center with just one room for 10 children. Today, my center, located in the Chicago suburb of Morton Grove, has four classrooms where we can care for and educate up to 71 children, ages 6 weeks to 5 years.

Azar Khounani

After almost 30 years, my passion for caring for the youngest children during the most important years of their growth and development is just as strong as the day I started. But it’s been a long, tough road.

Programs like ours are part of a critical but fragile infrastructure that helps keep families afloat. We care for children who have experienced hardships and trauma. Our teaching staff, with support from experts and in partnership with families, provides a safe place for children to heal. Since the pandemic, we’ve seen higher levels of trauma and challenging behaviors, making access to warm and welcoming spaces even more important. Kids Academy educators are trained in trauma-informed practices.

But child care costs exceed what many families can pay; many parents report financial hardships. One parent in my program moved from a first-floor apartment to a basement-level unit to save $50 a month. She’s not an exception.

And while child care remains a costly necessity for families, programs like ours continue to operate on razor-thin margins. Over the past three decades, I have seen many providers close due to financial challenges and a lack of qualified staff. Kids Academy has survived because of community support, government resources for parents and providers, and the resilience of the Kids Academy teachers.

Why are the economics of providing care so precarious? There are many reasons, including plentiful regulations, the challenge of hiring qualified teachers in a competitive job market and at a time of historic inflation, and the cost of keeping our facilities and equipment clean, safe, and updated. Tuition income often doesn’t cover operating costs, especially at daycare facilities serving low- and middle-income families.

While child care remains a costly necessity for families, programs like ours continue to operate on razor-thin margins.

During the pandemic, our early-learning center was able to keep our doors open thanks to community and government support. St. Luke’s Church, where Kids Academy is located, lowered our rent. Federal COVID relief money was a lifeline. Without these child care stabilization payments, many families — including those doing essential work — would have been left without care for their young children. Reimbursements from the Child Care Assistance Program also helped us stay open.

At the height of COVID, our teachers risked their lives to serve our families. Today, some Kids Academy educators commute an hour or more, all the while fretting over the high cost of gas. I cannot overstate how much I appreciate and admire their strong sense of purpose and the sacrifices they continue to make.

Teachers often share that if they worked somewhere like Amazon, they would earn higher wages while enjoying greater scheduling flexibility. Some early childhood teachers burnout and eventually leave, but others stay put citing their passion for the work and the kids they serve. As dedicated as educators are and as critical as their work is, it’s clear that the funding landscape has to change if we are going to continue to support families.

Here in Illinois, Gov. J.B. Prtizker’s newly announced Smart Start Illinois plan is a roadmap for equity, recruitment, access to quality early child care and education, and higher compensation for those doing this care work. The program is also allocating $100 million for child care facilities, giving centers like ours a chance to improve their spaces.

But we’re not just waiting for early education dollars to appear. As a member of We, the Village coalition, I advocate for families, care providers, and other early childhood professionals. We seek adequate, reliable, and steady funding for child care providers to help them survive and continue as vital parts of our communities. We work together to be a voice for all young children who deserve quality child care, regardless of race or ZIP code.

I have been sustained on this “long, tough road,” thanks to my love for this work, my belief that caring for young children means a better future for them and all of us, and the community and government support — moral and financial — that acknowledges our work as essential.

Azar Khounani is the founder and president of Kids Academy Early Learning Center, a member of We, the Village coalition, and the Director of the Say Yes to Childcare campaign.

In preschool, one size doesn’t fit all. So why is NYC asking early educators to use a single curriculum?

2023-07-31T12:00:00+00:00

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This past year, a child in my preK class had major surgery and was out for several weeks. When he returned, we transformed a corner of the classroom into a doctor’s office. He played there every day for a week, administering bandages and shots to his curious patients. The nearby water table became a place for friendly witches to mix healing potions. Then he was done, and we closed the doctor’s office.

Supporting children’s healthy development is skilled work. After 25 years of working in early care and education, I continue to learn how to assess children and create responsive plans. To begin, I get to know each child’s family. I want them to feel comfortable sharing their hopes and expectations with me. Each day, I observe children at play, during meals, rest, and transitions, and reflect on what I learned.

Helen Frazier

I am lucky to have a partner teacher who is a good listener; she creates space for me to consider the various possibilities. Maybe the child is more emotional because it is the end of the school year, and they are nervous about the upcoming transition. Maybe it’s because they have moved recently. Maybe it’s because, as a white teacher of a Black child, I am not seeing their strengths and needs clearly. We are never sure of the answers. The skills are asking questions, observing, and being responsive.

This spring, Eric Adams announced that contracted infant/toddler, 3K, and preK programs in New York City, including in over 8,000 classrooms in district schools, community-based organizations, family child care homes, dual-language, and faith-based settings, will be following one script: Creative Curriculum. Previously, the majority of early childhood programs in New York City, including mine, used the free, flexible, local, and multilingual curricula provided by the Division of Early Childhood Education. A smaller number chose an emergent or Reggio Emilia approach or a purchased curriculum such as Creative Curriculum, High Scope, or Tools of the Mind.

In early childhood, the curriculum consists of absolutely everything in each child’s day: schedule, environment, interactions, family communication, transitions, books, and lessons. The change to the Creative Curriculum “ecosystem” means that children’s experiences across the city will be standardized — making it much harder to be culturally responsive since everyone is expected to be doing the same thing. (Early childhood programs that contract with the city have until the 2024-25 school year to implement the curriculum.)

I am concerned that the transition will also make children’s experiences less linguistically responsive. Creative Curriculum is only available in English and Spanish, while the Division of Early Childhood Education curricula are translated into the 11 languages most commonly spoken in New York.

The books included in the Division of Early Childhood Education curricula are high-quality literature, carefully curated by early childhood educators to reflect the experience of growing up in our diverse city. The proprietary Creative Curriculum books are geared toward a national market. The city’s choice to replace a free curriculum with a corporate product is an unnecessary use of taxpayer money during a time of supposed budget crisis.

I have used Creative Curriculum. I used it in 2002 when I was a Head Start teacher. At that time, Creative Curriculum, first developed by the educator Diane Trister Dodge, was a flexible framework not unlike the current Division of Early Childhood Education curricula. It was play-based, interdisciplinary, and encouraged teachers to learn about children through their observations.

I used Creative Curriculum again in 2014 when I worked for an EarlyLearn program, a subsidized child care and education program in New York City. By then, Creative Curriculum was owned by a private equity firm, and it had become something else entirely. (It has since been sold to another private equity firm, KKR.) The units of study that were once scaffolds for the teacher’s creativity now included facilitation guidance to be delivered with fidelity.

“... the work of care is slow, organic, and often unpredictable.”

Today, an image of the early care and education provider on the Creative Curriculum website is a teacher reading from an iPad. While this kind of technology integration may work in other industries, the work of care is slow, organic, and often unpredictable. When an educator interacts with a very young child, they need to be present and act as a mirror to the child, not to the instructions on a screen.

The new Creative Curriculum integrates its child assessment system, Teaching Strategies Gold. Teachers observe children and then use the online system to score their skills against a developmental schedule. Creative Curriculum Cloud then uses the ratings to suggest lessons through an algorithm that automates support for children’s skill development.

The data can also be aggregated for school-wide and system-wide monitoring of children’s progress toward “widely held expectations.” For their part, administrators are able to keep track of educators’ curriculum and assessment work remotely. While this may seem efficient as a design, I found it to be time-consuming in practice. Moreover, as doctors have seen in recent years, the quality of care is not often improved by efficiency.

A teacher who strictly follows the Creative Curriculum is likely to become consumed with data collection since they must upload sufficient evidence to determine a score for each of 75 skills. For a class of 18 children, the teacher may complete over 1,000 ratings every three months. Because most educators working in community-based and family child care settings do not have planning time, teachers do this data entry on the evenings and weekends. It is rarely meaningful for us. We do not know where the data goes. We do not know how it is used by the private equity firm.

There is more to consider about a young child than their skills. Not everything that we value can be measured. And yet, the Creative Curriculum assessment system asks you to rate the curiosity of a child on a progression. Where to begin? They are just starting out. They are more curious than they will ever be again. They are motivated by their interests, by wonder, by the love of their families, and by their first friendships. When I plan responsive experiences, I consider what the family values, what the children are excited about (potions!), and who in the class they are connecting with. Driven by delight, they will develop their skills. If I lead with their skills, I will crush their delight.

New Yorkers trust educators with their young children every day in family child care homes, Head Starts, community centers, and district schools. These educators express their love by being responsive and creative, and sharing their individual, cultural, and linguistic knowledge. Replacing this human work with a single curriculum is a misguided decision.

Helen Frazier is a preK teacher working in Brooklyn and an instructor teaching Approaches to Early Childhood Assessment at Bank Street College of Education. Helen is the lead writer of the Revised New York State Early Learning Guidelines and a creator of the New York Association for Young Children’s Interest-Driven Learning Framework. Helen is the proud mother of two sons who attend NYC public schools.

This Colorado county aimed to create thousands more child care slots. Here’s how it went.

2024-02-03T00:14:19+00:00

A little over a year ago, Grace Luchavez opened a child care program in her Grand Junction home in western Colorado. Today, the former nursing assistant cares for a handful of children in a living room accessorized with a colorful alphabet rug and lined with toy bins.

Five miles away, a new state-of-the-art child care center is going up in a former alfalfa field, rising steadily from a skeleton of metal beams and concrete. A longtime local child care provider will operate the center, which will be the first in Clifton, an unincorporated community with more than 1,000 small children, many from low-income families.

Luchavez’s child care business and the future Clifton center represent some of the fruits of an ambitious campaign to double the number of child care slots and boost child care quality in Mesa County. The effort began in 2017 and was originally dubbed Child Care 8,000 for the number of slots county leaders hoped to reach. At the time, the county was losing child care seats by the dozens, parents were hamstrung by long waitlists, and employers were struggling to keep working parents on the job.

Jeff Kuhr, who then headed the county health department and was the chief architect of Child Care 8,000, believed high-quality child care could improve child and family well-being, and by extension, community well-being. It could help address everything from low elementary test scores to high suicide rates and workforce turnover.

Today, leaders and advocates in Mesa County say parents have more child care choices, quality is higher, and it’s easier for prospective child care providers to get into the field. But the county fell short of its ultimate goal: Instead of 8,000 child care slots, it has 5,000. That represents about 800 more slots than there used to be, but still not enough to meet the need.

Child Care 8,000 no longer exists as an official county initiative, but leaders say its message and momentum live on.

“We’re not done for sure, but definitely making strides,” said Stephanie Bivins, director of Mesa County’s early childhood council, a group that supports child care providers and families with young children.

Stephanie Bivins, director of Mesa County's early childhood council, stands last fall in front of the building that will house the new Clifton child care center.

She said Child Care 8,000 created a stronger early childhood ecosystem by getting county agencies, city leaders, local colleges, and businesses to work together on child care in an unprecedented way. The effort brought in new grant money, streamlined parts of the process for opening a child care business, and dramatically expanded free training for child care teachers.

Kuhr said more needs to be done to raise wages for early childhood staff, but he’s proud of what the effort has accomplished.

“It changed the values of Mesa County,” he said, “It put early childhood education on the map.”

Finding child care that’s still far away

Parent Kaycie Crider knows what it’s like to scramble for child care. When she had her first child five years ago, “I ended up rearranging my entire life to stay home,” she said.

She cared for her daughter while working from home in the tiny ranching town of Colbran in eastern Mesa County. She assisted a real estate broker with paperwork on a contract basis. But things got tricky when her second child, a son, grew into a busy, inquisitive toddler.

“He was too active … climbing on counters when I was trying to put on my professional voice and answer the phone,” she said. “It just was too crazy.”

Last summer, Crider, who now sells commercial playground equipment, decided to put her children in child care a few days a week. She found a licensed home-based provider near Grand Junction who’d opened about six months before. She also relied on her father to care for the children one day a week. She and her husband, a lineman for the local power utility, took turns caring for the children on Fridays.

The hard part of Crider’s child care search wasn’t finding open slots, but finding them in a convenient location for an affordable price. Last fall, her commute to work in Palisade was an hour and 20 minutes, partly because she drove 12 miles out of her way to drop the kids at child care each morning.

This winter, she switched her son and daughter to a Grand Junction child care center partly because tuition was lower — $78 a day instead of $110 — and partly so her son could be around more kids his age. Her commute each way is eight miles longer now.

Ideally, Crider said, there’d be more child care options in or near Colbran. The local school district operates a preschool that her 4-year-old daughter now attends tuition-free two days a week through the state’s universal preschool program. But her son, who just turned 3, won’t qualify for more than a year.

Planning for healthy children and a healthy county

When Child Care 8,000 launched in 2017, the 8,000-slot goal represented about 60% of the county’s population of children age 12 and younger — the approximate proportion who needed child care either because both parents work or their household is led by a single parent who works.

Curtis Englehart, executive director of the Grand Junction Economic Partnership, which helps recruit companies to the area, said child care is a big issue for the business community.

“It can be right up there with cost of living,” he said. “If child care remains a huge barrier … then getting businesses to relocate or expand, they won’t have the workforce to do it.”

Bivins, who was early childhood coordinator for Mesa County Public Health before moving to the early childhood council in 2021, started her work on Child Care 8,000 by gathering data at five child care centers. She discovered they were operating at about 70% capacity, not because of a lack of demand, but because they couldn’t find qualified staff.

“There were so many costs associated with entering the field,” she said. “To get [an entry-level Child Development Associate credential] is about two grand and these folks are making minimum wage. They can’t afford that.”

Bivins and the rest of the team set about making it easier and cheaper for people to enter the field and advance once they were in it. They gave out scholarships for training courses, offered stipends so prospective providers could afford to take off work for child care credential exams, and dramatically expanded coaching and technical assistance for new providers.

“Now, we have a full career pipeline that we’ve built over the last few years,” she said.

The work of Child Care 8,000 was funded through a variety of sources, including a state 2Generation Opportunities grant, county health department dollars, and federal COVID aid.

Several employees at the Grand Junction’s Eureka! McConnell Science Museum — which launched a full-day preschool program three years ago — have taken advantage of the free early childhood classes and training.

They include staff who worked at the museum’s reception desk and in other non-child care jobs. The financial help allowed them to land full-time early childhood jobs with benefits, said Jenn Moore, the museum’s executive director.

“They would never have done it without the county providing these financial offsets just because it’s too expensive,” she said.

Englehart said although it’s still particularly tough to find infant care in the county, it’s getting easier for families to find child care generally — and for businesses to take a chance in the region. In 2023, 10 companies relocated or expanded to the Grand Junction area, creating 150 new jobs.

“Progress is definitely being made,” he said.

Employers expand child care options for employees

In a field marked by low pay, high stress, and lots of regulation, Child Care 8,000 was always destined to be a huge lift. And perhaps unsurprisingly, the topline goal of increasing the number of child care seats from 4,200 to 8,000 by the end of 2020 — a 90% jump — never materialized. Instead there was a more modest 20% increase in child care capacity.

“I didn’t ever expect that this was going to happen quickly” said Kuhr, who left his job at the health department last summer. “I feel like we’ve made some headway but we still have a ways to go.”

Mesa County did exceed its goal on child care quality, boosting the proportion of providers with one of the top three ratings on the state’s Colorado Shines rating system from 10% in 2017 to 40% today. That’s higher than the original goal of 30% and the statewide average of 24%.

There have been other high-profile gains, too. In the past few years, several local employers have opened centers to provide child care to their workers. Both Grand Junction and Community Hospital have opened child care centers for their employees — together creating 184 new seats.

Jennifer Knott operates the new child care center at Community Hospital and will also operate the center opening in Clifton later this year.

County leaders also have high hopes for the Clifton project, which will create nearly 200 new child care slots, plus space for early childhood offices, training, and conferences.

In addition, a center that will serve employees of the Eureka museum along with four other nonprofits, is slated to open in 2025, provided the nonprofits can raise enough money for construction.

Several people involved in Child Care 8,000 said it shouldered much of the work that should have fallen to the county’s early childhood council, which was dysfunctional when Child Care 8,000 began. Today, under Bivins’ leadership, the council is well-regarded.

“That council is completely changed and it’s awesome,” said Kuhr.

Giving families flexibility and an attractive setting

One day last fall, Luchavez distracted a toddler who was on the brink of bumping a wobbly baby by asking him to tell a visitor his age.

“How old are you?” she said, from her perch on a blue pillow that looked like a beach ball. “Show your fingers.”

Gazing at Luchavez, who was holding up her own fingers as a hint, the 2-year-old rested his fists on his chin, with both index fingers pointing skyward. Then he hopped on a blue ride-on car and inched around the living room.

Grace Luchavez takes the children she cares for to her yard for outdoor playtime.

As a licensed home-based provider, Luchavez provides the cozy setting and flexible hours that lots of families seek, especially for infants and toddlers. Some days, she starts at 6:15 a.m. and sends the last child home around 7 p.m. — a long day for her, but priceless for parents who work 12-hour shifts.

During the pandemic, Luchavez worked nights as a nursing assistant at St. Mary’s Medical Center. But when a colleague struggled to find child care for her young son after her husband died, Luchavez offered to help out on her days off. From there, she decided to get a state license so she could accept more children and turn it into a full-time business.

Luchavez has a warm personality, calm demeanor, and lots of experience with children. She’s the mother of three adult daughters and used to help out at her sister’s child care program in Montrose. Still, she initially had doubts about whether she could jump through the hoops required to enter the highly-regulated world of licensed child care.

“Maybe I will not be able to pass or maybe I’ll not get that license,” she recalled thinking when she started the journey.

But she credits her coach from the early childhood council for helping every step of the way.

While Child Care 8,000 has encouraged home-based child care providers like Luchavez to enter the field, there are still fewer seats in home settings than before the pandemic. Bivins said the county is still working its way back from a huge deficit of such providers. But 2023 was a good year, with a net gain of 38 home-based child care slots in the county — a 9% increase from 2022.

Today, Luchavez gets calls about twice a week from parents looking for child care.

“Sorry, I’m already full,” she tells them.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Colorado’s free preschool application is open. Here’s what you need to know.

2023-02-15T01:22:09+00:00

Note: This story is about the 2023 free preschool application, and some of the information is out of date. For updated information about the 2024 free preschool application, read our updated story here.

Leer en español.

The parent application for Colorado’s new free preschool program opened at 8 a.m. on Tuesday — a major milestone in the march toward the program’s launch next summer.

The program, funded in part by a voter-approved nicotine tax, will offer 10 to 15 hours a week of tuition-free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide, with some eligible for 30 hours a week. In addition, some 3-year-olds will be eligible for 10 hours a week.

State officials expect about 30,000 children to opt into the universal preschool program in its first year. That’s about half the number that will be eligible.

Here’s what families need to know about the online preschool application:

Who gets free preschool and what age do they have to be?

Three groups of children qualify: 4-year-olds, some 3-year-olds who need extra help, and a small number of 5-year-olds who are too young for kindergarten.

Let us explain. The new preschool program is designed for children in the year before they go to kindergarten — children who turn 4 before the state’s Oct. 1 cutoff date. The state will pay for 15 hours a week of preschool for these students at no cost to parents. Some preschool providers may offer only 10 hours a week — for example, a school district that offers K-12 classes only four days a week.

Some 4-year-olds will get 30 hours of free preschool a week, including those from lower-income families, who speak a language besides English at home, are homeless, in foster care, or have disabilities.

The new preschool program will also cover 10 hours a week of preschool for 3-year-olds in these same groups.

What about 5-year-olds who aren’t in kindergarten yet?

Some 5-year-olds will qualify for free preschool and some won’t. Children who live in school districts with kindergarten cutoff dates before Oct. 1 will qualify if they turn 5 after the district’s cutoff date and before Oct. 1. For example, a child in a district where children must turn 5 by Aug. 1 to attend kindergarten, will qualify for free preschool if they turn 5 in September. (The application may indicate these children are not eligible. State officials say families should contact the group coordinating universal preschool in their area if this happens. Search this county-by-county list to find contact information for the right local group.)

Five-year-olds who could go to kindergarten but have been held out by their families — a practice often called redshirting — won’t be able to get free preschool through the new state program.

What do I need to fill out the application? Are there income requirements?

Many families will need about 15 minutes and not much else. The application is offered in English, Spanish, and Arabic, and parents should be able to complete the application on a cell phone or computer.

Families whose household income qualifies their 4-year-olds for extra hours or allows them to enroll a 3-year-old will need to upload documents that prove their income. Families that earn up to 270% of the federal poverty limit — about $81,000 a year for a family of four — fall into this category.

If that describes you, this FAQ lays out which documents the state will accept for proof of household income.

Families who qualify for 3-year-old preschool or extra hours of 4-year-old preschool for reasons other than income levels — perhaps their child has a disability or is learning English — won’t need to show proof of income.

Check this FAQ for details about which documents the state will accept for proof of household income.

How do I know how many hours my child will get?

The online application system will tell you how many hours your child is eligible for after you enter a few pieces of information. There are four possibilities:

Not eligible: Your child is too young, too old, or doesn’t live in Colorado.
10 hours: If your child is 3 and meets one or more of the eligibility criteria.
15 hours: If your child is 4.
30 hours: If your child is 4 and meets one or more of the eligibility criteria.

Can I pick my child’s preschool?

Yes. Families will be asked to pick up to five preschools they’d like their child to attend and will be able to rank their choices. Options include school-based preschools, church-based preschools, preschool programs inside child care centers, and state-licensed home-based preschools.

Search and map functions are available to narrow down the choices. You can look for the program your child already attends or explore new options. Children will be prioritized for a spot in a preschool if they’re already enrolled there, if a sibling is enrolled there, or if a parent works there.

There are some cases where preschool providers may not accept a preschool match made by the application system. For example, a school-based preschool might turn away a child who lives outside district boundaries or an employer-based preschool that mainly provides care to children of company employees may not enroll the child of a non-employee. (During the application process, parents will see a blue banner indicating if selected preschools prioritize certain students.)

My child has a disability. What preschools can I pick?

If your child has a special education plan — officially called an Individualized Education Program, or IEP — your child will be served in a preschool classroom run by your school district. That’s because of the way special education laws are written.

If your child doesn’t have an IEP and you’re worried about a developmental delay, contact Child Find, the state’s early intervention program for 3- to 5-year-olds.

My child is 3. What preschools can I pick?

Three-year-olds will mostly be served in preschool classrooms run by their school districts. Some 3-year-olds may have non-school options, but only if their district partners with private preschools. That’s because of the way the state’s preschool law is written.

Parents of 3-year-olds won’t be able to select specific preschools on the state application. Instead, they’ll select their local school district. That’s because school districts are in charge of matching 3-year-olds to specific preschool programs.

What if I don’t see my child’s provider on the list?

Preschool providers don’t have to participate in the state’s universal preschool program, but more than 1,000 have chosen to and more are expected to sign up. State officials say if parents don’t find the preschool they want listed in the application system, they should reach out to the preschool provider and encourage them to sign up.

What if I need more hours than what my preschooler is eligible for?

You can still pay for extra hours above and beyond what the state covers for free, as long as the preschool offers more hours. You can also see if you qualify for financial help through other means, such as the state’s child care subsidy program for low-income families, called the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program.

Do I need to fill out the application right away?

Families who fill out the application by Feb. 24, the deadline for the first round of applications, will have more options and find out sooner which preschool they matched with.

The first application window runs from Jan. 17 to Feb. 24. (The original end date was Feb. 14, but state officials extended it.) Families will find out their match on March 30. State officials said families can still apply after Feb. 24, including through spring and summer.

I filled out the state’s preschool application. Do I have to fill out my school district’s school choice application, too?

Possibly. Some districts also want parents to fill out school choice forms if they want a spot in a district-run preschool. That includes Denver and Jeffco, the two largest school districts. If you choose a district-run option, check your local district’s enrollment website to see if they want you to apply there as well.

The state application will determine whether your child qualifies for free preschool and if so, for how many hours. It will also match 4-year-olds to a specific preschool. The district school choice system collects more information so that children can be enrolled in the program they matched with. For 3-year-olds, the district choice system is where families get matched with a specific preschool.

If families fail to fill out the district choice form, district officials they’ll reach out and work with them to get it done. In some cases, delays in filling out the district form could mean families end up with fewer preschool options.

What if I decide against the preschool my child was matched with?

You can reject the preschool match the state makes for you. However it’s possible you’ll have to resubmit your application.

When does free preschool start in Colorado?

Not until August or September, whenever the preschool program you matched with starts. Families will find out their matches sooner, but tuition coverage doesn’t kick in until late summer.

My child qualifies for free preschool. Can my preschool charge extra tuition or fees?

Yes and no. It depends how many hours of care your child needs each week.

Preschools participating in Colorado’s universal preschool program cannot charge families additional money — tuition, supply fees, or activity fees — for the free hours the child is eligible for through the state program.

However, preschools are allowed to charge for any additional hours they provide to a child above the number of free hours granted through the state. For example, if a 4-year-old receives 20 hours of preschool a week, but is only eligible for 15 free hours, the provider can charge tuition for the additional five hours, plus supply or activity fees for that extra time.

I have more questions. What should I do?

You have three options:

Check out the state’s universal preschool frequently asked questions page.
Contact the local group that’s coordinating the universal preschool program in your county or region. Here’s a county-by-county list of all the groups — the state calls them Local Coordinating Organizations or LCOs — with email addresses.
Contact the state’s help desk from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding state holidays. The number is 303-866-5223 and the email is cdec_upkcolorado@state.co.us.

Do you have a question you don’t see answered here or can’t find the answer to elsewhere? Let us know at co.tips@chalkbeat.org and we’ll do our best to find an answer.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Sociologist Casey Stockstill explores the segregated lives of preschoolers in new book

2023-11-14T13:00:00+00:00

Casey Stockstill didn’t set out to write a book about preschool segregation.

Initially, the Dartmouth College sociologist wanted to write about the lives of preschoolers. To do that, Stockstill spent two years observing children and staff at a Head Start in Madison, Wisconsin, followed by spending a month at a private preschool on the other side of the city.

Sunshine Head Start enrolled nearly all kids of color, while Great Beginnings was nearly all white. But both were top-rated preschools with experienced staff, a teacher for every six students, and a routine filled with learning and play. So Stockstill expected they’d be pretty similar.

But the stark differences she observed — all of which were rooted in racial and socioeconomic segregation — became the organizing principle of her new book, “False Starts: The Segregated Lives of Preschoolers.” In it, Stockstill details how segregation shapes everything from how preschoolers spend their time to the kind of instruction and supervision they receive.

That matters because preschool segregation is not only common, but often overlooked. Nationally, two-thirds of preschoolers learn alongside classmates who are either mostly white and affluent, or mostly kids of color from low-income families. And early childhood programs are more racially segregated than K-12 schools.

Chalkbeat spoke with Stockstill about those differences she saw, and how they affect the kind and quality of education preschoolers receive.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

On paper, these two high-quality preKs have a lot of similarities. Can you talk about how students spent their time when you were there?

The first thing I noticed was: Wow, their listed routine looks so similar. It says they’re going to come in and say welcome, have breakfast, have circle time on the rug, an hour of open-ended play, go outside, and eat lunch.

Watching them on a daily basis though [was very different]. At Great Beginnings, things are pretty calm and predictable. I went in February to observe, all the kids had been enrolled since September. It was like: We know who is coming every day, and these kids know the routine.

What surprised me was how much the kids read books. One time, I watched the teachers read a book to a group of 4-year-olds for 32 minutes with no major interruptions.

At Head Start, they always tried to read every day, but they often didn’t finish the book. They either had kids that had been enrolled in their class all year, but were having a hard day, because stuff was going on at home. So those kids are running away from the circle, or poking a friend, and they’re having to stop and correct those behaviors.

Or they have this churn in part of their enrollment. Two-thirds of the Head Start class roster was stable. The kids were there in September, they stayed all year. One-third just rotated based on poverty and instability. We had a student, her family got evicted, that left a spot open for a new family to come in. So you’re kind of constantly in orientation mode.

How did segregation affect what was going on in their classrooms?

We have a country that has structural racism, and a country that has pretty harsh conditions of poverty, especially for children. Families of color have higher rates of experiencing things like eviction, having a parent that gets incarcerated, contact with Child Protective Services and foster care. All of those things are more likely to happen to Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous children. Families who are poor, similarly, have higher rates of residential instability.

If we had integrated classrooms, where 20% of preschoolers were poor in every single center, we would spread out those challenges, and we’d force all teachers to think about how they’re going to meet kids’ needs when they have some kids dealing with these instabilities and disruptions to family life. Instead, when we segregate kids, you make a classroom like Sunshine Head Start, where we have a lot of those problems. That allows you to have other classrooms like Great Beginnings, where none of those problems exist.

Can you talk about how the segregated classroom experiences affected whether or not kids could bring things from home?

Sunshine Head Start had a classroom rule that you could not bring personal toys from home. There was no stuffed animal you would bring to nap. This rule made sense to the teachers, because they knew they had kids who were homeless, they had kids getting evicted. They didn’t want to create more moments to underline that kind of scarcity. And the other thing they said was: We have this classroom full of toys.

In that environment, about a third of the kids that I observed tried to sneak in special objects to school. It was mostly boys of color that would bring in a Spider-Man toy, a bouncy ball, a slimy, sticky hand. Boys were likely to get caught with these objects and then they would get disciplined for it. They’d get: ‘You’re not supposed to do that, put it in this bin, I’m going to take it away.’ It became this source of friction and distance between the kids and the teachers.

What I argue in the book is that this sends a message to the whole group of children that you check your personal stuff at the door. School is for playing with the institutional objects that we’re providing for you. For this one-third of kids who snuck things in, and then got in trouble, I see that it can feed into disproportionate discipline. We have statistics on this, that Black preschoolers are suspended and expelled at higher rates than white preschoolers. At Sunshine Head Start, none of the kids got suspended, but they did experience this avenue of discipline.

Then I went to Great Beginnings. They didn’t sneak things in, and it was because they had a weekly show-and-tell with the letter of the week. It might be ‘O’ and you’d bring in your baby owl stuffed animal. They also could bring in a stuffed animal at nap time, and they would play with those things.

At Head Start, they’re dealing with real scarcity among their families. They’re trying to make that not an issue, and so they have this strict policy, but it doesn’t really work. And at Great Beginnings they’re basically celebrating material abundance.

When you saw the kids get their things taken away who’d snuck them in, how did that affect them?

It depended. I focus a lot on a child I call Julian, who was dealing with a lot of family instability. His mom was incarcerated, she was in jail for a month. He just had a lot going on at home. And he would bring in stuff a lot. Sometimes, he was able to hide it from the teachers. Toward the middle of the year, it started getting taken away more often, and he would be upset about that.

But what was interesting was that by the end of the year, he had kind of learned how to bring stuff in and make sure the teachers didn’t see it. He would make plans. That also concerns me. There are kids who are learning not only that the teachers can’t know I’m bringing special things to school, because I’ll get punished, but also now I’m able to practice maneuvering away from the teacher’s gaze.

Another thing you detail in the book are the differences in play time, and who sets the rules for how kids play. Could you talk about that?

You might expect marginalized children, poor children of color, would get less autonomy. It’s kind of the opposite of what I observed.

At Sunshine Head Start, again, those issues of the fluctuating enrollment, the behavior challenges from kids, dealing with family instability — those things occupied teachers’ attention during the indoor playtime. They’re doing this hour of what’s supposed to be open-ended play. And the teachers would pair up with the kids who were acting out, or new to the classroom. Sunshine Head Start had three teachers, two of them were often paired up with kids in this unofficial way, leaving one teacher to supervise the other 15 kids.

So you’d have these pockets of three to seven children, who are playing, and they are being supervised, but the teacher is not involved in what they are doing. They are figuring that out themselves. The classroom rules also gave kids a lot of autonomy. In circle time, they’d say where do you want to play? What’s your plan?

The result of that was that the Sunshine Head Start kids were used to playing and a random classmate wanting to join the game. They would have a lot of problems, and then they would have to solve them themselves.

Then I went to Great Beginnings, where they had what they would call an hour of open-ended playtime. But they exerted more control. They assigned kids to play centers. They’d set a timer for about 15 minutes, and when the timer beeped, you would rotate to a new play area with the same playmate. They don’t deal with this issue of: What if you’re playing a game and two new kids want to join? The teachers were highly involved.

I see downsides to that: Less creativity, less independent problem-solving. But the potential upside is: Now you have kids who are expecting adult attention. There is a lot of sociology work on this in elementary school, about middle-class kids interrupting, raising their hand, just exhibiting more entitlement to teacher attention.

The students who had higher concentrations of poverty in their classrooms experienced higher levels of intrusion into their families’ lives. What was most striking to you about that dynamic?

Because of the experiences that poor families are having outside the classroom of surveillance and fear of Child Protective Services calls — those enter into the classroom with teachers feeling hesitant to ask questions. They told me they feared they would get in trouble if they seemed like they were prying for information about family challenges.

What was interesting to me is: The kids would talk about some of their family events but the teachers didn’t see that as bids to have a bigger conversation. They didn’t feel they could talk openly about a domestic violence dispute or scarcity at home. Kids have to kind of learn that these things happening at home are not acceptable talking points at school.

And at Great Beginnings, those families have disruptions as well, but the ones I saw were kind of upper-middle-class disruptions. There was an occasional divorce or a parent traveling for business. There wasn’t that specter of CPS. So things just felt more open there between families, kids, and teachers.

There has been a movement in the K-12 setting to have more frank conversations with kids about what’s happening in their home lives, what’s happening in the world. Did the preK teachers feel unequipped to have some of those complicated conversations? How could it have been better?

These are early childhood teachers, they understand a lot about children. I just think we have a cultural idea that, especially kids under 5, are so moldable that we can shape their feelings about things, that they’re not going to have their own feelings. So if we avoid bringing up challenging things, they won’t be as real to kids.

There is research showing that kids do notice. They notice class inequality. They notice racial inequality. Some of these things happening in kids’ lives at home, they might cause personal harm, the kids may feel sad about them, but sometimes they are just facts of life to those kids.

The change I’ve love to see is preschool teachers being comfortable — if a kid is bringing something up — at least [talking about] that.

Kalyn Belsha is a senior national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org.

Child care gaps in rural America threaten to undercut small communities

2024-01-08T13:08:00+00:00

This story was originally published by KFF Health News and is re-published with permission.

Candy Murnion remembers vividly the event that pushed her to open her first day care business in Jordan, a town of fewer than 400 residents in a sea of grassland in eastern Montana.

Garfield County’s public health nurse, one of few public health officials serving the town and nearly 5,000 square miles that surround it, had quit because she had given birth to her second child and couldn’t find day care.

“My primary goal was to give families a safe place to take their children so they could work if they needed to,” said Murnion, 63. She started in 2015 with eight slots, the maximum she could cover herself, and slowly grew. Then, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a surge in federal aid to child care programs helped her raise wages for her workers and expand to a second facility.

Today, her day care programs, the only ones in Jordan, can serve up to 30 children, ranging from 6 weeks old to school age. But after that pandemic-era funding support ended in September, Murnion began to wonder how long she could sustain her expanded capacity, or whether she’d need to raise prices or lower enrollment.

And she isn’t alone.

Data collected prior to the pandemic shows that more than half of Americans lived in neighborhoods classified as child care deserts, areas that have no child care providers or where there are more than three children in the community for every available licensed care slot. Other research shows parents and child care providers in rural areas face unique barriers. Access to quality child care programs and early education is linked to better educational and behavioral outcomes for kids and can also help link families and children to immunizations, health screenings, and greater food security by providing meals and snacks.

Policymakers and researchers now fear that inequitable child care access threatens the sustainability and longevity of rural communities.

“If we want to keep rural parts of this country alive and thriving, we need to address this,” said Linda Smith, director of the Early Childhood Initiative at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

According to an October report that Smith co-authored, there is a 35% gap between the need for and availability of child care programs in rural areas, compared with 29% in urban areas, based on data from 35 states.

The report echoed concerns local, state, and national experts have raised for a number of years.

A report published last year by the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services found that, per capita, more parents rely on family members or friends for child care in rural areas than in urban areas. This isn’t sustainable for parents, said Cara James, CEO and president of Grantmakers in Health, a nonprofit that helps guide health philanthropy.

“Right now, we have a system that’s very expensive for people who can afford it and for people who can access it, not necessarily available to all those who need it,” James said. “That’s leading us to rely on other workarounds that are not ideal or ones that are [not] giving the children the best support that they need to grow into healthy adults.”

For example, according to a state report, Montana’s total child care capacity met 44% of estimated demand in 2021 and infant care capacity met only 34% of estimated demand. Garfield County had only 23% of potential demand for children under six. Nationally, the rural health advisory committee has found, child care deserts are most likely to be located in “low-income rural census tracts.”

The dearth of child care in many rural communities exacerbates workforce shortages by forcing parents, including those who work in health care locally, to stay home as full-time caregivers, and by preventing younger workers and families from putting down roots there.

Eighty-six percent of parents in rural areas who are not working or whose partner is not working said in a 2021 Bipartisan Policy Center survey that child care responsibilities were a reason why, while 45% said they or their spouse cared for at least their youngest child. Staying home to care for children is a responsibility that disproportionately falls on women, affecting their ability to participate in the workforce and make an independent living.

A report from the rural health advisory committee shows that when center-based care is readily available in a community, the percentage of mothers who use that type of care and are employed doubles from 11% to 22%.

According to the Biden administration, pandemic emergency funding increased maternal labor workforce participation, stabilized employment and increased wages for child care workers, tempered costs for families, and helped providers afford their facilities.

That funding included $52 billion in emergency aid allocated by Congress for child care program owners and low-income families. Murnion’s day care was one of an estimated 30,000 in rural counties that received federal grants.

She said the roughly $100,000 she received in federal aid allowed her to raise wages for her workers to $13 an hour and expand her facility space. She said she doesn’t take a paycheck from the business and instead relies on income from a family ranch and trucking business.

Now that the federal aid programs have expired, Murnion and other child care operators nationwide are wrestling with how to sustain those wages without hiking the cost of care for parents.

The Biden administration requested congressional approval of $16 billion to extend the pandemic-era child care stabilization program but doesn’t have enough support to continue the funding, despite nearly 80% of voters supporting increasing federal funding for states to expand their child care programs.

According to the administration, the funding would support more than 220,000 child care providers in the U.S. that collectively serve more than 10 million kids. Montana would receive an estimated additional $46 million if Congress approved the request.

Although federal aid helped Murnion get through the pandemic, she said she doesn’t want to rely on the government forever. She charges parents $30 a day for one child and $22 a day each for siblings. And she doesn’t charge parents for days their children don’t attend. If she does need to raise prices, Murnion said, she’ll increase the per-sibling cost.

The pandemic provided some meaningful lessons, said Smith of the Bipartisan Policy Center. “Those stabilization grants were, I think, a key to what we actually need to do with child care down the road.”

The number of child care programs has grown since before the pandemic in most states, but the employee count per facility has decreased. The federal cash infusion helped child care employment rebound after a 35% dip at the beginning of the pandemic. By November 2022, the number of workers in child care jobs had climbed to 92% of the pre-pandemic level.

In the best circumstances, Smith said, parents would pay more for child care, and the corresponding supply or availability of programs would increase. But because parents are struggling to keep up with the rising costs, which in some places can be more than in-state college tuition, supply is stagnant.

Smith said the end of federal aid programs kicked the issue back to state and local governments. “I think most people would agree that what we need is some type of funding that goes to the programs to keep it so that they can do what they need to do and not charge the parents for it,” she said.

Some state and local governments are doing so. In Alabama, lawmakers approved $42 million last year in the state budget for child care. The Missouri state legislature approved $160 million for child care. Voters in rural Warren, Minnesota, narrowly approved a half-percent sales tax to support a child care center that was struggling to stay open.

During last year’s legislative session, Montana lawmakers and Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte approved new laws to improve child care access, including removing state licensing requirements for small in-home day cares and expanding a program that helps lower-income families pay for child care.

“You can’t sit here in Washington, D.C., and figure out how you’re going to get child care out in eastern Montana,” Smith said. “It just doesn’t work.”

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

Padres de Colorado: ¿Necesitan ayuda para pagar el preescolar? Vean estos programas.

2023-09-18T18:41:50+00:00

A partir de este otoño, Colorado está ofreciendo entre 10 y 15 horas de educación preescolar gratuita a todos los niños de 4 años como parte del programa preescolar universal del estado. Más de 40,000 familias ya lo solicitaron, pero el proceso de solicitud sigue abierto y estará disponible durante todo el año.

¿Pero qué pasa si necesitas que tu hijo o hija reciba más de solo 10 a 15 horas de clase semanales?

Hay varias formas de obtener ayuda financiera para esas horas adicionales. El programa de preescolar universal pagará hasta 30 horas de preescolar a la semana para algunos niños. Esos niños tienen que ser de familias con bajos ingresos y estar en una de las siguientes categorías: Estar aprendiendo inglés, no tener hogar, vivir en un hogar de crianza (foster home) o tener un plan de educación especial.

El mero hecho de ser de una familia con bajos ingresos no basta para calificar para las 30 horas — pero muchas familias hispanohablantes pueden calificar si sus ingresos caen bajo cierto nivel.

Hemos recopilado una lista de otros programas que pueden ayudar a cubrir las horas adicionales de preescolar, que incluyen Head Start, el Colorado Child Care Assistance Program, y para los residentes de Denver, el Programa Preescolar de Denver. El condado de Summit también ofrece ayudas para la matrícula de preescolares con su Programa de PreKinder de Summit, pero el plazo de solicitud generalmente es del 1 al 31 de mayo.

Las familias de militares pueden ser elegibles para ayuda financiera a través del programa Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood, establecido para familias que no pueden acceder a los programas de guardería operados por el servicio militar porque hay listas de espera o porque están lejos de sus hogares.

Por último, vale la pena preguntar en el centro preescolar de tu hijo si ellos ofrecen becas o descuentos que puedan ayudar a reducir el costo del programa.

Si tienes preguntas sobre el preescolar universal o sobre cómo añadir horas, llama al servicio de ayuda del preescolar universal al 303-866-5223 o o comunícate con el grupo local de tu condado que está ayudando a operar el preescolar universal.

Este es un resumen rápido de algunos de los programas que pueden combinarse con el preescolar universal para darles un día completo de clases a los estudiantes.

Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP)

¿Qué es? Un programa estatal que ayuda a las familias con bajos ingresos a pagar por el cuidado de los niños, incluido el preescolar. Los padres deberán estar trabajando, buscando trabajo o asistiendo a la escuela.

Quién es elegible: Las familias cuyos hijos son ciudadanos o residentes legales permanentes y cuyo ingreso familiar esté entre el 200% y el 270% del límite federal de pobreza. Eso es entre $60,000 y $81,000 para una familia de cuatro. Cada condado establece sus propios criterios de ingresos, así que verifica los detalles aquí dependiendo en dónde vives.

Ayuda financiera: El CCCAP paga por la mayor parte de los gastos de guardería de las familias que califican, y la cantidad pagada varía según las horas de cuidado que necesite el niño por encima de las horas de preescolar universal. Las familias que califican también tienen que pagar una cuota de los padres: un copago basado en los ingresos, el tamaño de la familia y el número de niños que van a la guardería.

Cómo solicitar: En línea en inglés o español, o comunícate con el departamento de servicios humanos de tu condado.

Lo que debes saber sobre combinar con la educación preescolar universal: Solamente algunos preescolares participan en el Colorado Child Care Assistance Program. Pregúntale al proveedor de preescolar universal que hayas seleccionado si acepta el CCCAP, o busca su nombre en la solicitud de preescolar universal y haz clic en “Ver más información”. Aparecerá una ventana con información sobre el proveedor y te dirá si ellos aceptan el CCCAP o si ofrecen otro tipo de ayuda financiera.

Algunas familias que califican para el CCCAP podrían no recibir la ayuda debido a la escasez de fondos, sobre todo una vez que se agoten los fondos del estímulo federal por COVID en 2024.

Programa Preescolar de Denver

¿Qué es? Un programa en Denver que cuenta con matrícula basada en los ingresos para niños de 4 años en preescolar, sin importar los ingresos de la familia.

Quién es elegible: Residentes de Denver con hijos de 4 años que asistan a preescolar, independientemente de su estatus migratorio.

Ayuda financiera: Los créditos de matrícula varían entre $36 y $1,227 mensuales por un máximo de 12 meses, y se le pagan a la escuela a nombre de la familia. Usa la calculadora de crédito de matrícula del Programa Preescolar de Denver para calcular tu crédito de matrícula mensual. Los créditos se basan en el tamaño de la familia, los ingresos y la calidad del centro preescolar seleccionado.

Cómo solicitar: En línea en cualquier momento en inglés o español, o comunícate con el Programa Preescolar de Denver llamando al (303) 595-4377 o escribiendo a info@dpp.org. Hay solicitudes en formato PDF disponibles en chino/mandarín, francés, ruso, vietnamita, somalí, amárico y nepalí.

Lo que debes saber sobre combinar con la educación preescolar universal: Solicita el preescolar universal primero, y después de que tu hijo o hija se haya matriculado en un preescolar, solicita el Programa Preescolar de Denver. Esto es necesario porque la solicitud del Programa Preescolar de Denver requiere que las familias indiquen el centro preescolar al que asiste su hijo o hija. La mayoría de los centros de preescolar de Denver que están participando en el preescolar universal también participan en el Programa Preescolar de Denver, pero hay algunos que no. Checa aquí para encontrar los centros preescolares que están participando en el Programa Preescolar de Denver.

Head Start

¿Qué es? Un programa financiado con fondos federales que ofrece educación preescolar gratuita, servicios de salud y apoyo familiar a niños de familias con bajos ingresos, independientemente de su estatus migratorio.

Quién es elegible: Niños de 3 a 5 años de familias con ingresos que igualan o son menos que el límite federal de pobreza. Esto equivale a $30,000 anuales para una familia de 4. Los niños sin hogar, en hogares de crianza (foster care) o cuyas familias reciben asistencia pública también son elegibles independientemente de sus ingresos.

Ayuda financiera: Head Start es un programa preescolar gratuito que ofrece un horario de clases parcial o completo a los niños.

Cómo solicitar: Busca aquí para encontrar proveedores cerca de ti y comunícate directamente con el centro para solicitar. Si necesitas ayuda para encontrar un proveedor de Head Start, llama al 866-763-6481.

Lo que debes saber sobre combinar con la educación preescolar universal: Solamente algunos proveedores de preescolar ofrecen Head Start. La solicitud de preescolar universal también muestra si los proveedores participan en Head Start. Para obtener ayuda, comunícate con el proveedor de Head Start que te interesa o con el grupo local que ayuda a operar el preescolar universal.

Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas relacionados con la niñez temprana y la alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un email a aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Colorado podría cubrir hasta 30 horas por semana para que tus hijos asistan al preescolar. Aquí te mostramos lo que necesitas saber.

2023-08-03T20:01:39+00:00

En enero, el estado de Colorado abrió la solicitud para el nuevo sistema que les ofrece preescolar gratis a todos los niños.

Este programa es nuevo, y va a reemplazar los programas previos que cubrían los costos del preescolar solo para algunas familias. No hay fecha límite para solicitar, pero es mejor que lo hagas lo antes posible, porque los cupos en tu área se pueden llenar. La recomendación más reciente es que solicites antes de mayo. Las clases comienzan este otoño, y la fecha exacta dependerá del preescolar que elijas.

Por ser un programa nuevo, no ha comenzado sin problemas. Entre ellos, a algunos líderes comunitarios les preocupa que la comunidad hispana, en particular, no ha recibido suficiente información.

Aquí están las respuestas a algunas preguntas comunes. Si tienes más preguntas, no dudes en enviar un mensaje a co.tips@chalkbeat.org y haremos lo posible por conseguirte la respuesta.

¿Quién recibirá el preescolar gratis, y cuántos años deben tener los niños?

Hay tres grupos de niños que calificarán: los de 4 años, algunos de 3 años, y un pequeño grupo de 5 años que todavía son demasiado pequeños para ir al Kinder.

El programa de preescolar nuevo está diseñado para el año antes de que los niños vayan al Kinder; es decir, para niños que cumplirán 4 años antes del 1 de octubre, la fecha límite del estado. El estado pagará por 15 horas semanales de preescolar para todos estos niños y no habrá costo adicional para los padres. (Es posible que algunos proveedores de preescolar ofrezcan solo 10 horas a la semana).

Pero, si tu familia es de bajos ingresos y tus hijos también no dominan el inglés, o su idioma natal es otro que no es inglés, esto les puede calificar para más horas — hasta 30 horas gratis por semana. También pueden calificar si tienen discapacidades o si no tienen hogar y la familia es de bajos ingresos. En la solicitud, es importante marcar todos los factores que apliquen para que sus hijos reciban los servicios que merecen.

¿Dónde encuentro la solicitud en español?

Este es el enlace directo a la página donde puedes llenar la solicitud en español. Si te encuentras la solicitud en inglés, haz clic en la esquina derecha de arriba, donde veas el globo, y verás una lista de idiomas. Selecciona el español.

¿Me pedirán comprobante de mi estatus migratorio?

No. No importa el estatus de los niños ni de los padres, y no es algo que te van a preguntar. Este programa está cubierto por fondos estatales de un impuesto en la venta de productos de tabaco. No es un programa federal.

Lo que sí te pedirán es un acta de nacimiento de tu hijo/a para comprobar su edad, y también un comprobante de residencia para verificar que vives en Colorado. Este comprobante puede ser cualquier documento que muestre tu dirección postal física, por ejemplo, una factura de servicio. Si consigues un cupo para tu hijo(a) en el programa, deberás llevar este comprobante de residencia cuando vayas a registrar a tu hijo en la escuela.

¿Hay límites de sueldo para calificar para el programa o para las horas adicionales?

Todos los niños de 4 años califican para un mínimo de 15 horas, sin importar los ingresos de la familia. Pero, si quieres solicitar las horas adicionales, podrías calificar si tu familia gana menos del 270% del límite federal de pobreza, que en este caso es, por ejemplo, $81,000 para una familia de 4 — y también aplica uno de los factores de calificación. Entre esos factores está el no tener dominio del inglés, no tener una casa, o tener una discapacidad. Si tu familia gana más del límite de ingresos, tus hijos solo califican para las 15 horas gratis, pero en algunos casos aún podrás pagar por las horas adicionales.

¿Qué significa tener dominio limitado de inglés? ¿Cómo calificaría mi hijo/hija por esta razón?

Si en tu casa hablas un idioma que no es inglés con tus hijos, es probable que califiques. En la solicitud para pedir las horas preescolares gratis, los padres pueden indicar que su hijo(a) tiene dominio limitado de inglés. La solicitud también preguntará cuál es el idioma principal que se habla en casa de este niño. Después, es posible que el centro preescolar donde asistas haga más preguntas o que tengan otra forma de evaluar cuánto inglés domina un estudiante.

¿Cómo encuentro un centro preescolar que tenga programas bilingües?

Dentro de la solicitud hay una sección para que busques centros en tu área y que indiques los que prefieres para tus hijos.

Antes de llenar la solicitud, también puedes buscar los centros que participan. En la misma página donde encuentras la solicitud, puedes seleccionar “buscar proveedores.” Luego, verás tres preguntas.

Primero, debes poner tu dirección o un código postal y también indicar si quieres manejar o si necesitas que el centro esté más cerca para poder caminar, etc. Después, pon la edad de tu hijo(a) y selecciona ‘Enviar’. Esto abrirá otra página con un mapa y una lista de los centros que están participando.

En esta página, selecciona el botón “Filtros” arriba de la lista al lado izquierdo. Esto abrirá una ventana donde puedes seleccionar todas las opciones que quieras. La sección más abajo te permite indicar “español”, y si la seleccionas, todos los resultados serán centros que tienen empleados que hablan español.

Si seleccionas uno de los centros de la lista, verás más información sobre los programas que tienen. También puedes llamar a los centros que te interesen para preguntar más.

¿Cuáles son los beneficios de poner a mis hijos en un programa bilingüe?

Los expertos dicen que los niños que pueden desarrollar dos idiomas demuestran mejores habilidades académicas, tienen beneficios cognitivos, por ejemplo mejores procesos para solucionar problemas, y cuentan con mejores funciones de ejecución, como la de prestar atención.

Guadalupe Díaz Lara, profesora adjunta del Departamento de Estudios sobre la Infancia y la Adolescencia de la California State University, dice que es importante que los padres sepan que los programas bilingües no hacen daño.

“Los niños no se confunden, no se retrasan académicamente”, dijo Díaz Lara. “Es mejor que aprendan su idioma natal para luego desarrollar sus habilidades de inglés”.

Aunque un niño ya entienda inglés, el beneficio de un programa bilingüe sería poder continuar desarrollando los dos idiomas. Los niños pueden comenzar a perder su idioma natal desde la edad preescolar.

Otro beneficio es que aprender su idioma natal ayuda a los niños a desarrollar su identidad, y permite que mantengan relaciones con sus familiares.

“No es nada más su idioma, su historia, su cultura, es mucho más”, dijo Díaz Lara. “Es estar en un lugar donde eso se valora”.

¿Qué debo preguntar para saber si un programa bilingüe es de alta calidad?

En Colorado, una forma de determinar la calidad de los programas de cuidado de niños pequeños y los centros preescolares es el programa Colorado Shines. El programa otorga una calificación del 1 al 5 para cada programa, donde una puntuación de 5, la más alta, significa que el programa tiene licencia estatal, es de confiar y cumple los estándares más altos de salud y seguridad. Si necesitas ayuda para encontrar un programa, puedes buscar las calificaciones de un programa en línea, o llamar a la línea telefónica de referencias de cuidado infantil de Colorado Shines en Mile High United Way llamando al 1-877-338-2273.

Díaz Lara les recomienda a los padres que pregunten qué apoyos habrá para que sus hijos desarrollen su idioma natal sin importar si el programa es bilingüe o no.

La respuesta, dice ella, no debería ser que van a tener a alguien que les interpreten todo.

“Sabemos que esa no es una estrategia que funciona”, dijo Díaz Lara.

También puedes preguntar: ¿Qué capacitación tienen los maestros en cada idioma? ¿Qué plan van a seguir para desarrollar los dos idiomas? ¿Cómo van a medir el progreso?

Otras preguntas que Díaz Lara recomienda son: ¿Cómo involucran a los padres en decisiones académicas? ¿Qué plan hay para comunicarse con los padres cuando haya algún problema?

Haga clic aquí para descargar y imprimir esta guía. O puede ver y imprimir el PDF abajo.

Yesenia Robles es una reportera de Chalkbeat Colorado que cubre los distritos escolares K-12 y la educación multilingüe. Para comunicarte con Yesenia, envíale un mensaje a yrobles@chalkbeat.org.

Colorado free preschool program matches more than 27,400 families, seats still available

2023-06-21T23:24:04+00:00

More than 27,400 Colorado families have accepted preschool matches through the state’s new universal preschool program, according to the Colorado Department of Early Childhood.

That represents more than 32,000 children, more than half the state’s 4-year-olds, according to state estimates. The state had a goal of serving between 40% and 60% of eligible children in the program’s first year.

There are still plenty of seats available, though. The department currently reports more than 24,000 tuition-free preschool seats remain open across the state and are still available for families who apply by the July 13 deadline for the next round.

Beginning this fall, all Colorado 4-year-olds are eligible for between 10 and 30 hours of free preschool a week. Families who have certain qualifying factors are eligible for more hours of free preschool. Three-year-olds with qualifying factors may be eligible as well. Qualifying factors include low household income, speaking a language other than English at home, or having a disability.

Many participating preschools offer additional hours, but families have to pay tuition for that care.

According to a press release from the Colorado Department of Early Education, 90.7% of children have been matched to one of their preferred providers, with 78.6% of families being matched to their first choice.

Two additional rounds of matching are planned for the summer for new applicants or those who have not selected a provider yet. Families who applied in the third round will find out their match June 29. Families who apply by July 13 will find out later in the summer who their provider will be.

Enrollment in tuition-free preschool in Colorado is still open on a rolling basis. Out of Colorado’s 64 counties, all still have slots available. There are 1,930 participating preschool providers offering 56,866 seats, about 43% of which are still open.

Some rural counties have just one or two providers offering a few dozen seats, but even in those communities, the state reports open seats. Among populous Front Range counties, Denver still has more than 2,000 seats available, about 40% of the total and Arapahoe had almost 5,000 available seats, more than half the total.

The early childhood department estimates that families will save about $6,000 per year on average.

Sara Martin is an intern with Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Sara at smartin@chalkbeat.org.

Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott grants $1 million to Colorado early education nonprofit

2023-06-09T18:49:29+00:00

Billionaire MacKenzie Scott has awarded $1 million to a small, low-profile Colorado non-profit, whose leaders remain a bit stunned.

“The whole thing was very surreal,” said Heather Tritten, executive director of Parent Possible, which provides support for early childhood services. “When I look at who else has been funded in Colorado — organizations that are far bigger than Parent Possible, it feels very unreal that we were funded by MacKenzie Scott and that she wanted to invest in us.”

Parent Possible, which was founded in Colorado in 1991, works to equip parents with tools and education to prepare their children to learn. The nonprofit believes that investing in early childhood systems helps increase literacy and encourages students to graduate high school — which helps break the cycle of poverty.

It serves some of Colorado’s most low-income residents. According to its 2022 annual report, 87% of its client households earn less than twice the federal poverty limit. That would be less than about $49,720 for a family of three this year.

Tritten said Parent Possible was contacted in December to discuss a possible donation with an anonymous organization. In March, Scott’s foundation, Yield Giving, called to say it would donate $1 million to Parent Possible.

In the 15-minute conversation, they told her, “good luck with your organization and the important work you’re doing,” she said.

Tritten said the foundation will let Parent Possible use the funds for whatever is most important.

Scott, who as of last year was the fifth richest woman in the United States, has given away more than $14 billion since 2019. She has a 4% stake in Amazon as part of her divorce settlement with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. She has made waves in the world of philanthropy by making large gifts, including to schools and education nonprofits, with no strings attached. Last year, Scott gave $2.5 million to a Colorado Springs charter school.

The Parent Possible donation was announced this week.

Parent Possible provides 4,000 families with in-home visiting services and an additional 20,000 families in Colorado with virtual programs, like early learning education software and an app with learning tools and parenting help.

The app, called Vroom, was created with funding from the Bezos Family Foundation. It messages parents with suggestions for activities to do with their children every day.

Parent Possible provides some of its programs through partnerships with schools, family resource centers, departments of human services, and nonprofits. Its services are free of charge to Colorado families.

The home-visiting programs teach child development, how to promote the social and emotional development of young children and how to prepare 2- to 5-year-old children for preschool and kindergarten.

Parent Possible is still mapping out how to best use Scott’s donation to help the families it serves.

Tritten hopes to advance the group’s work and accomplish more than they had previously thought possible.

Sara Martin is an intern with Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Sara at smartin@chalkbeat.org,

Could a Newark early learning center funded by philanthropists be a model for child care?

2023-10-25T15:20:45+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.

At Clinton Hill Early Learning Center in the South Ward, everything is designed with the city’s youngest children in mind:

Many of the wall decorations are just 2 feet off the ground — the perfect view for infants and toddlers. The lobby overflows with plants and sunlight, the classrooms are filled with color, and the courtyard has climbing structures, toys, and, most importantly, padded flooring.

Clinton Hill Early Learning Center offers one solution for closing gaps in financing early childhood education. The center is funded by the Maher Charitable Foundation, a philanthropy that engages in early childhood education projects and policy efforts and has previously funded the expansion of Newark early learning facilities.

Maher built the $17 million Clinton Hill Early Learning Center, working closely on construction plans with community organizations Clinton Hill Community Action, Clinton Hill Community & Early Childhood Center Inc., and La Casa de Don Pedro. The three groups now share the responsibility of running the center day-to-day.

That partnership is helping provide some Newark families with access to state-of-the art programming and facilities at a time when infant and toddler care nationwide is both expensive and limited.

During the height of the COVID pandemic, federal funding helped to keep care centers operational. Now that money has expired, leaving many early childhood education and care centers struggling to stay open.

Khaatim Sherrer El, executive director of Clinton Hill Community Action, said the center’s goal from the beginning was to act as an example of what’s possible for Newark.

“We didn’t want to signal that we’re trying to put anybody out of business,” said Sherrer El. “We want to demonstrate what the children of Newark deserve.”

Early learning providers struggle without pandemic aid

The need for child care for Newark’s youngest children is great. The group Advocates for the Children of New Jersey reported that, as of March 2022, there was space for only about 18% of Newark’s infants and toddlers in the city’s programs.

Cynthia Rice, senior policy analyst for ACNJ said programs for infants and toddlers are both the most expensive to provide and historically underfunded. Now, the problem is getting worse.

“During and after COVID, the American Rescue Plan helped programs keep their doors open. But now, that money is gone. It had to be gone by Sept. 30,” said Rice.

Rice said the COVID-era relief funding primarily helped pay for staffers’ salaries. But without additional funds, early childhood programs are struggling to pay the number of employees necessary for infant and toddler care.

“You have one adult for every four babies. That’s what our regulations require, so it’s a lot more expensive than preschool,” Rice said.

The Century Foundation is calling the ending of the American Rescue Plan the “child care cliff” and predicts it will have severe consequences as child care programs adjust to the lack of funding. They expect that nationwide an estimated 3.2 million children will lose access to child care.

On Oct. 18, N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy announced that, in line with his administration’s universal preschool goal, $25 million in state funding will be awarded to 26 school districts to expand high-quality preschool programs. The funding, called Preschool Expansion Aid, will support over 1,715 new seats available by January 2024.

Rice said that while this is an exciting development for preschools, it won’t help programs that exclusively serve infants and toddlers.

Districts that applied for Preschool Expansion Aid were required to demonstrate their effort to include both Head Start and child care programs. Head Start is a federally funded program that supports low income families’ access to care or schooling for infants through 5-year-olds. Child care includes infant and toddler programming.

However, Rice said the state uses what is called a mixed delivery system, in which independent education providers contract with public schools in order to provide more seats for early learning.

Funding is given to school districts, which are then responsible for distributing the funds to contracted providers as needed.

Rice said certain groups seem to be taking priority.

“Many districts are applying for the money, but their engagement with child care and Head Start is not what we had hoped,” said Rice.

Between the “child care cliff” and funding distribution, Rice worries that programs specifically serving infants and toddlers could suffer financially in the coming months.

“Change will have to come from a federal, state, and local commitment to children. No city can do it alone. It’s just too costly,” Rice said. “But bringing attention to programs like Clinton Hill and engaging foundations like Maher can help advocate for what our children deserve.”

Children were the focus of Clinton Hill Early Learning Center’s design plans.

Maher models a solution for Newark’s youngest students

For years — after the state cleared homes and other properties for a school building that never materialized — the land Clinton Hill now sits on stood vacant. Then, in 2019, the Maher Foundation purchased the land from the state in an agreement to build an early education center.

Clinton Hill Early Learning Center opened its doors in March of 2022 and now serves 198 children — 48 infants and toddlers and 150 preschoolers. Families pay tuition on a sliding scale based on income, though many children attend free of charge.

Instruction at Clinton Hill Early Learning Center follows a research-backed curriculum, even for the youngest children. Sherrer El says calling the facility a learning center rather than a care center was intentional.

The center’s building also sets a high bar. While children enjoy bright colors and seemingly endless collections of books and toys, staff can access thoughtfully designed laundry, craft, and break rooms.

This fall, Maher received two awards in recognition of the center’s construction: A Smart Growth Award from New Jersey Future and a Community Builder Award from the New Jersey Institute of Social Justice.

Sherrer El said constructing an entirely new space, rather than repurposing an existing Newark building, allowed for more intentional design choices focused on kids.

One of his favorite things about the center is how engaged students’ fathers have been, a testament to the importance of having space set aside for parent engagement.

Many of the building’s classrooms are conjoined to foster collaboration between teachers, and some contain an observation room where parents can watch their young children play.

“We’re working on setting up a two-way mirror so that education researchers can use the space, too,” said Sherrer El.

Several of the center’s spaces are also available for public use. Teachers from other institutions may use a variety of resources, though Sherrer El said the lamination machine seems to draw the most attention.

Both Sherrer El and Rice hope that the center’s construction — and funding model — will serve as an example for other philanthropic organizations aiming to follow their lead.

Samantha Lauten is a fall reporting intern for Chalkbeat Newark covering public education in the city. Get in touch with Samantha at slauten@chalkbeat.org or reach the bureau newsroom at newark.tips@chalkbeat.org.

These four states already have universal preschool. What can Colorado learn from them?

2022-04-27T21:19:58+00:00

When Colorado launches free preschool for 4-year-olds in 2023, it will join a half dozen other states that already offer universal preschool.

All of them have encountered the same tricky task Colorado leaders now face as they try to knit together a disparate patchwork of public and private preschools into an equitable and high-quality statewide system. We’ll take a look at some of the lessons learned in four states: Florida, Oklahoma, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Some, like Oklahoma, have offered the program for decades, while others, like Vermont — one of the few places to offer free preschool to all 3- and 4-year-olds — have joined the club more recently. Wisconsin officials said they don’t consider their preschool program universal because school districts don’t have to offer the state-funded classes, though 99% do.

Colorado’s universal preschool program will offer 10 hours a week to all 4-year-olds, with children who have higher needs eligible for more. Funding will come from Colorado’s existing state-funded preschool program, which is for children from low-income families, or who have language delays, or other risk factors, and proceeds from a voter-approved nicotine tax.

Advocates in the four states cited ongoing challenges in everything from ensuring high-quality offerings to making part-day preschool work for families, but they also said the programs are generally popular. In all four states, at least 70% of 4-year-olds participated prior to the pandemic.

Sherry Carlson, chief program officer at the Vermont advocacy group, Let’s Grow Kids, said the state’s system is not perfect, but “usage is an indication that we’re on the right track.”

States	Year launched	Four-year olds enrolled	Quality benchmarks met	Min. hours/week	Bachelor's degree required for preschool teachers
Florida	2005	75%	2	15	No
Oklahoma	1998	70%	9	10-30	Yes
Vermont	2014	76%	7	10	In public school classrooms
Wisconsin	1984	70%	3	10-12	Yes

State-funded preschool in four states

Notes: The % of children served reflects this school year or the 2019-20 year. “Quality benchmarks met” is based on 10 standards used by the National Institute for Early Education Research. Oklahoma school districts have the option of providing 2.5 or 6 hours of preschool per day. Wisconsin provided funding for 4-year-old preschool starting in 1927. It was repealed in 1957 and reinstated in 1984. In Florida, families can choose a 540-hour school year program or a 300-hour summer preschool program.

The half-day problem

Colorado’s plan to offer 10 hours of preschool a week to most children is similar to preschool programs in states like Florida, Vermont, and Wisconsin. The problem is that half-day programs don’t work for a lot of families.

Professor Beth Graue, director of the Center for Research on Early Childhood Education at the University of Wisconsin Madison, studied Wisconsin parents’ preschool choices and found that many declined to enroll in the program because of the schedule.

“The half-day format is a nightmare for at least a third of all the parents we surveyed,” she said. “It’s curious to me in today’s day and age that people imagine that a half day would work.“

When universal preschool originally launched in Florida, the vision was to offer both a 3-hour and a 6-hour preschool day, but there was never enough funding for the longer day, said Madeleine Thakur, president of the advocacy group, The Children’s Movement of Florida. Some schools — those that receive federal funds for low-income students — cover the extra cost of full-day preschool for some students, but the coveted spots are in short supply.

In Vermont, momentum had been growing to increase the number of state-funded preschool hours beyond the current 10 a week, but the pandemic derailed that discussion, said Carlson.

“There is a lot of agreement, particularly among working families and schools, that more time would be better,” she said.

Teacher qualification conundrum

The four states profiled have various requirements for universal preschool teachers — Oklahoma and Wisconsin require them to have bachelor’s degrees, while Florida does not. Vermont is something of a hybrid — requiring bachelor’s degrees for universal preschool teachers in public school settings, but not for all teachers in private settings.

These differences reflect both ongoing national debate about whether teachers with four-year college degrees provide better preschool experiences than those without, and the reality that such requirements pose a major financial barrier in light of the field’s low pay.

The National Institute for Early Education Research, which ranks states annually on preschool access and funding, includes bachelor’s degree requirements among 10 benchmarks showing whether states have key quality standards in place. Experts say preschool can produce short- and long-term benefits for kids, but only if it’s high quality.

Colorado’s existing preschool program doesn’t require bachelor’s degrees and meets only four of the institute’s 10 benchmarks.

Carlson, who estimated that 60% of Vermont’s universal preschoolers are served in private settings, said the more lenient degree requirements for those classrooms was one of the concessions made when the program began. The state has put money toward helping preschool teachers further their education, but more needs to be done, she said.

Carlson’s advice to Colorado: “Be willing to compromise with a plan [that says] this is where we’re starting and we’re going to keep working to get to … where the vision was.”

Thakur, of Florida, said many wonderful preschool teachers don’t have bachelor’s degrees currently so it shouldn’t be a requirement at the inception of a universal program. Plus, with teachers in private preschool settings often paid much less than public school counterparts, it’s not fair to require the degrees, she said.

Who’s got access?

The idea behind universal preschool is to serve every child whose parents want a spot, but that can be hard to deliver on a consistent statewide basis.

Carlson said offering preschool in both public and private settings helps ensure access in Vermont, partly because private centers can often provide wraparound care that meshes with parents’ work schedules and locations. At the same time, some preschoolers with disabilities lose out on special education services if they attend preschool with private providers outside of their school districts, she said.

The goal should be to “put children and families at the center,” she said. “Then don’t let paperwork or artificial boundaries” get in the way.

Joe Dorman, CEO at the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, said reaching rural children has been a struggle in his state. In some cases, it’s because of preschool staff shortages or a dearth of seats, but there are also some families who don’t see the value of preschool, he said.

“This has been one of our crown jewels,” he said. “It amazes me that people won’t take the time to look at the benefits and see the good that can come from it.”

Dorman said Colorado should educate parents about the free preschool program before children turn 4.

“Begin the promotional process early,” he said. “Ensure that families recognize this.”

Preschool and K-12: separate or together?

In some universal preschool states, school districts are in charge of overseeing the program locally and offer many preschool seats in public school classrooms. These factors make school districts a key player in the universal preschool discussion, but also raise questions about how close the association should be.

Experts from other states said it’s important that universal preschool be designed around the developmental needs of young children.

Thakur said Colorado leaders should be careful “not to bring the rigor of the K-12 system down into preschool.”

“You’ve really got to focus on relationships, making sure children learn how to communicate, cooperate, listen, and follow routines,” she said. “Those are the kinds of things that are a real down payment for the kindergarten teacher.”

Colorado’s existing preschool program is administered by school districts and 77% of students attend the program in public school classrooms, but planned changes could shake up public schools’ role in universal preschool.

Graue agreed that preschool should be developmentally appropriate, not narrowly focused on math and literacy, but also noted the downsides of divorcing preschool and K-12 policy.

During a statewide class size reduction effort in Wisconsin, for example, Graue said kindergarten classes went down to 15 children, but preschool classes in the same buildings were often much larger because they weren’t included in the state initiative.

In addition, although Wisconsin’s state-funded preschool classrooms in private settings must adhere to class size caps mandated by state child care regulations, public schools aren’t subject to those limits. Instead, each district establishes its own preschool class size rules.

“That’s the problem of the 4K [Wisconsin preschool] program working in this liminal space between K-12 and the child care system,” Graue said.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Colorado universal preschool standards set low bar, experts say

2023-09-13T22:22:22+00:00

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Colorado’s proposed rules on preschool quality set a low bar, could hurt kids, and threaten to leave the state with one of the nation’s weakest public preschool programs, some experts say.

The draft standards say class sizes will be governed by current licensing rules, which means preschools can have up to 24 4–year-olds in each classroom. The standards also don’t address what degrees or credentials teachers must have. These are among the red flags cited by leaders at the National Institute for Early Education Research, who reviewed the draft rules at Chalkbeat’s request.

“It’s very difficult once you create a low-quality system to work your way out of that, because you create a constituency for it,” said W. Steven Barnett, senior co-director of the institute, which is housed at Rutgers University.

Colorado’s proposed quality rules, which will take effect in fall 2024, are already coming too late for the first class of universal preschoolers — about 38,000 4-year-olds and 9,000 3-year-olds so far this fall. While some of those children may be in top-rated preschools that keep class sizes small, use strong curriculum, and employ highly qualified teachers, many are attending programs that meet only basic health and safety standards.

This runs counter to what state leaders promised after the passage of a nicotine tax in 2020 to help fund tuition-free preschool for 4-year-olds statewide. They said the new program would provide the kind of high-quality preschool that research shows has positive short- and long-term impacts on children.

But now, it’s unclear whether the state will make good on that pledge — and if so, how long it will take.

“In my opinion, this is stuff they should have been nailing down three years ago,” said Meg Franko, director of early childhood initiatives at the University of Denver’s Butler Institute for Families. “It’s frustrating that so much is happening at the last minute.”

She sees some bright spots in the proposed standards, including that preschools would be required to have an on-site evaluation by the state or another approved evaluator every three years. She also said the standards include features that will bring more consistency so that “parents can feel like they’re getting a similar product no matter where they go.” These include requirements for preschools to have a curriculum, promote child health, and engage with families.

“I don’t think this totally solves that problem, but I think it starts to help with it,” she said.

State officials say they are collecting feedback on the proposed quality rules through at least Sept. 22 and that the standards could change before they are adopted in January.

Separate rules for preschool teacher qualifications will take effect in fall 2025, though state officials have already confirmed that teachers will not need a bachelor’s degree as that is enshrined in state law. Those standards are still in the concept phase and no date has been set for their release.

Ian McKenzie, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, which is running the universal preschool program, said in an email that the draft standards are based on state and national best practices and feedback from more than 670 Coloradans.

He said the goal was to strike a balance between designing an accessible system that supports the work preschool providers are already doing and lifting them to the next level of quality.

Given that Colorado has prioritized offering universal preschool in various settings — public schools, private preschools, and state-licensed homes — McKenzie said the state wouldn’t be able to lower staffing ratios beyond what’s currently allowed without hurting private providers, which are small businesses. State child care rules require at least one staff member for every 12 preschoolers, along with a 24-student cap.

Low-quality preschool is bad for kids

Colorado’s universal preschool program, which offers 10 to 30 hours of class time a week at no cost to families, appears likely to fall short on most of the 10 quality benchmarks used by the research institute at Rutgers. The institute rates state preschool programs annually using its quality checklist. States like Alabama, Mississippi, and Hawaii meet all 10 benchmarks.

Institute officials estimated that Colorado could meet up to four benchmarks — based on the state’s proposed quality standards — but said they’d need additional information from the state to confirm compliance.

Even if Colorado’s universal preschool program meets four benchmarks — the same number its previous smaller state-funded preschool met — it’s a lackluster showing for a state that touted high-quality preschool for all.

McKenzie said the state is addressing the institute’s push for quality in other ways — for example, through early childhood coaching initiatives — outside of the preschool quality standards.

The institute’s benchmarks are meant to guide state preschool policy, not to gauge quality at individual preschools. Colorado has its own five-level rating system for preschool and child care providers, known as Colorado Shines, but there’s no requirement, including for universal preschool providers, to advance beyond the lowest Level 1 rating, which simply means a program meets state licensing standards.

Eighty percent of Colorado’s universal preschool providers have one of the lowest two state ratings. The other 20% have one of the top three ratings, designations considered high-quality.

Barnett said low-quality classrooms can negatively impact children long term, effects seen in research on early childhood programs in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Quebec.

He said of Quebec’s child care program, “When they went universal, they went for cheap so they could give it to everybody. Fifteen years later, kids were doing worse in school. They were more likely to be involved in crime and delinquency.”

“In particular, middle income kids were induced out of relatively good home or out-of-home programs into worse programs because they were free,” Barnett said. “You could see this happening in Colorado.”

Advocates differ on Colorado’s proposed quality standards

Lauren Corboy, an early childhood analyst for the advocacy group Colorado Children’s Campaign, described the state’s quality standards draft as “really strong” and said it “hits on the most important elements that make a quality program.”

For example, the standards say preschool should be developmentally appropriate and mentions the importance of play, she said.

The research institute’s 10 benchmarks represent only one of a variety of ways to measure preschool quality, Corboy said. “The goal is not to pick one set [of standards] and 100% align.”

Asked about potential class sizes of 24 preschoolers — as is allowed currently and in the draft standards — she said the Campaign has not yet developed talking points on that topic.

Rebecca Armentrout, executive director of Nebula Early Childhood Collaborative, a nonprofit that provides early childhood coaching and advocacy, said the state’s proposed preschool standards are vague.

For example, she said the standards call for the creation of a resource bank that includes “approved and vetted” curriculum, but it’s not clear what curriculum will be acceptable, who will vet the curriculum, and whether universal preschool providers will get funding to replace curriculum that doesn’t make the cut.

Like other early childhood advocates and leaders, including a group of school districts that recently sued the state over universal preschool, Armentrout worries there’s not enough money to properly run the new program.

She also expressed frustration over the analogy that state officials have repeated countless times through the universal preschool planning process.

“How offensive it’s been to hear this entire time, ‘We’re building the plane as we fly it.” said Armentrout. “Why would we trust these quality standards when we’ve heard that so many times?”

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

IPS seeks community help to expand before- and after-school care to all pre-K-5 students who need it

2023-11-09T20:08:30+00:00

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Indianapolis Public Schools is asking for help from the community to increase availability of before- and after-school care for students districtwide.

The Engage Every Student Indianapolis campaign — launched on Thursday with At Your School, the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, and other community partners — seeks to provide before- and after-school programs for all students who need it, from pre-K to fifth grade, by the 2024-25 school year.

Some community centers that currently offer programming and partner with the district have waitlists, officials say, while staffing also remains a challenge. The district call to action seeks pledges from community organizations to work with the district to eliminate the waitlists.

Community partners already on board with the initiative hope to work with the district to properly staff programs that are located both at schools and elsewhere. IPS also hopes to tap district employees to serve as paid staff for the programs.

“While our specific work may vary, our goal of providing quality care is universal,” said Natasha Bellak, vice president of the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis. “When we work together, we move everyone close to meeting that goal.”

The district already partners with about a dozen community centers and other organizations to offer before- or after-school care, in some cases at the school and in others off-site. Fees for such care can vary based on the provider; low-income families can seek assistance through the federal Child Care and Development Fund administered by the state’s Family and Social Services Administration.

The district plans to expand the number of these collaborative programs from 15 after-school offerings to at least 25 by next school year, and to add more before-school programs, which are currently at about 10.

Staff at Daniel Webster School 46 plan to launch a before- and after-school program on Monday, in partnership with At Your School, to address the need in the southwest corner of the district.

“IPS welcomes and encourages other youth program providers to connect with the district, so that we can better support our pre-K-fifth-grade students during these critical development years,” said Mary Seifert, director of student engagement and extended learning for IPS.

People from interested organizations can get involved by filling out the pledge form.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Colorado’s Prop II election results: Voters back nicotine tax measure to fund preschool

2023-11-08T03:32:32+00:00

Colorado voters easily approved a ballot measure that will send more than $20 million to the state’s new universal preschool program.

Proposition II (pronounced “eye-eye”) will allow the state to keep all the money raised through a nicotine tax Colorado voters approved in 2020, even though the tax raised more money than originally predicted. The state is required by the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, commonly called TABOR, to ask voters if it can keep extra revenue generated by taxes — in this case $23.7 million. The state will get to keep any excess revenue in future years as well.

Prop II had no organized opposition. A similar measure that allowed the state to keep excess marijuana tax revenue above what officials predicted they’d collect passed with nearly 70% of the vote in 2015.

The additional nicotine tax money will go toward Colorado’s universal preschool program — the same place most of the nicotine tax money from the 2020 ballot measure is already going. The $322 million preschool program is one of Gov. Jared Polis’ signature initiatives.

Polis said in a statement Tuesday evening, “I am thrilled people voted in favor of providing more funding for our free universal preschool program that is saving families money, and this voter-approved measure will help fund more preschool for kids. Thank you to all voters who made their voices heard, and thank you for continuing Colorado’s clear history of supporting early education.”

The preschool program launched in August and provides tuition-free classes to about 38,500 4-year-olds and 10,300 3-year-olds this year. While the program has proven popular with families, its rollout has been rocky at times.

In July, thousands of families who expected tuition-free, full-day preschool found out their children would get less because the state didn’t have enough money. In August, school district officials sued over the program, claiming the state is harming students who have disabilities and breaking funding promises to families and schools.

Some of the $23.7 million available through Prop II could help solve these problems.

The money will help pay for additional half-day and full-day preschool spots next year. This year, full-day spots are available to 4-year-olds from lower-income families who also have a second risk factor. Those factors include being an English learner, having a special education plan, being homeless, or being in the foster care system. About 3,600 children are enrolled in free full-day classes this year.

Next year, state officials want to make free full-day classes available to 3,000 additional 4-year-olds, specifically those from very low-income families.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

¿Cómo se califican los centros de cuidado infantil de Colorado?

2023-11-06T20:28:55+00:00

Read in English.

Cuando las familias envían a sus hijos pequeños a un centro de cuidado infantil o preescolar, quieren que ellos estén seguros, felices y entretenidos. ¿Cómo pueden saber si un programa está ofreciendo una atención de calidad?

El sistema de calificación de los centros de cuidado infantil de Colorado es una herramienta que puede ayudar. Las calificaciones son sencillas y se pueden encontrar haciendo una búsqueda rápida en línea. Ten en cuenta que no revelarán todo lo que los padres necesitan saber sobre un programa — hacer preguntas y visitar el sitio es importante también — pero son un buen punto de partida.

Aquí te explicamos cómo funciona el sistema de calificación de los centros de cuidado infantil de Colorado:

¿Cómo Colorado califica la calidad de los centros de cuidado infantil?

Colorado estableció un sistema de calificación de cinco niveles llamado Colorado Shines en 2015. Casi todos los centros de cuidado infantil y preescolares con licencia que atienden a niños desde el nacimiento hasta los 5 años tienen una de las calificaciones, y la calificación es válida durante tres años.

La calificación más baja es el Nivel 1, que indica que un proveedor cuenta con licencia estatal y cumple las normas básicas de salud y seguridad. La calificación más alta es el Nivel 5, y significa que el proveedor ha pasado por un proceso intensivo para demostrar que es de alta calidad en todos los aspectos de su programa — desde el currículo y sus prácticas comerciales, hasta la capacitación de los maestros e incluso los esfuerzos por utilizar libros y materiales en el idioma que el niño habla en su hogar.

Los programas con calificaciones de Nivel 3 y Nivel 4 también se consideran de alta calidad, pero obtuvieron menos puntos que los programas de Nivel 5 en algunas categorías.

¿Cómo puedo encontrar la calificación del preescolar o centro de cuidado infantil de mi hijo(a)?

Cualquier persona puede buscar las calificaciones de centros de cuidado infantil y preescolares en el sitio web del sistema Colorado Shines. Puedes buscar un proveedor específico, o todos los proveedores de un área geográfica. Además de la calificación, las listas incluyen horarios, información de contacto y otros detalles sobre los proveedores.

La versión en español del sitio web se puede ver haciendo clic en el enlace Spanish en la esquina superior derecha de la pantalla. El año que viene, el estado mejorará el sitio web para ofrecer más idiomas.

Los padres también pueden llamar al línea directa de información 211 del estado para obtener ayuda al buscar un centro de cuidado infantil o saber la calificación de Colorado Shines para un proveedor. Por último, pueden preguntarles directamente a los proveedores qué calificación de Colorado Shines tienen.

¿Todos los proveedores de cuidado infantil reciben una calificación?

La gran mayoría de los programas con licencia del estado que atienden a niños pequeños tienen una calificación de Colorado Shines. Estos incluyen centros de cuidado infantil (guarderías), preescolares privados, preescolares operados por distritos escolares y programas de cuidado infantil en un hogar. Las excepciones son los preescolares móviles, que ofrecen clases en autobuses adaptados o vans, y los preescolares forestales, que ofrecen sus servicios al aire libre.

Los proveedores sin licencia tampoco reciben calificaciones de Colorado Shines. Este grupo incluye a niñeras, babysitters y personas que cuidan un grupo pequeño de niños vecinos o parientes en un hogar privado.

¿Un proveedor de cuidado infantil que tiene una calificación alta puede haber sido objeto de investigaciones o multas del estado?

Sí. Una calificación alta de Colorado Shines significa que el proveedor generalmente usa buenas prácticas de cuidado infantil, pero los padres y empleados pueden presentar quejas si detectan algo alarmante y el estado puede investigar al proveedor basándose en esas quejas u otras inquietudes.

Los proveedores que estén en libertad condicional pueden mantener su calificación actual de Colorado Shines siempre y cuando estén trabajando para solucionar el problema. Sin embargo, el proveedor puede perder su calificación si viola las normas repetidamente.

Los padres pueden averiguar si un proveedor con cualquier calificación ha sido objeto de quejas, investigaciones estatales o multas en los últimos tres años haciendo clic en el botón azul View Details en la parte inferior de la pantalla de información del proveedor en Colorado Shines. Ellos pueden ver los reportes de las inspecciones estatales de rutina, y de las inspecciones estatales hechas debido a una queja, una lesión de un menor o por haber recibido una denuncia de maltrato o descuido de un menor.

Karen Enboden, del Departamento de Niñez Temprana de Colorado, dijo que los padres deben preguntarles a los proveedores sobre cualquier violación identificada por el estado, ya que el proveedor podría darles contexto adicional o explicar cómo se van a asegurar de que no volverá a suceder.

“No hay pregunta que no se pueda hacer”, dijo ella.

¿Un proveedor de cuidado infantil puede tener una calificación baja, pero seguir siendo de alta calidad?

Sí. Los proveedores de cuidado infantil no están obligados a subir en la escala de calificaciones en Colorado Shines y pueden decidir que permanecerán en un Nivel 1 o 2 porque no quieren pasar por todo el proceso requerido para obtener una calificación más alta. Por ejemplo, las calificaciones de Nivel 3-5 requieren que los evaluadores del estado visiten el centro para hacer una revisión en persona.

Eso no significa que los proveedores de Nivel 1 o 2 no cuiden bien a los niños. Simplemente significa que el estado no ha evaluado la manera en que esos proveedores manejan sus programas, salvo para asegurar que cumplen las normas básicas de salud y seguridad.

También hay que tener en cuenta que los programas de cuidado infantil nuevos entran automáticamente en el sistema con una calificación de Nivel 1 y puede tomar meses cambiar al Nivel 2 y más de un año para subir a Nivel 3 o superior. Eso significa que los programas nuevos podrían parecer de “baja calidad” en la lista, pero es porque no han tenido suficiente tiempo para obtener una calificación más alta.

Enboden dijo que los padres no deben necesariamente descartar un programa de Nivel 1 si se sienten cómodos después de haberlo visitado.

“Tenemos muchos programas nuevos en Colorado que van a estar en la lista de Nivel 1, pero es probable que están empezando su camino hacia la calidad”, ella explicó.

Si mi proveedor de cuidado infantil tiene una calificación baja en Colorado Shines, ¿en qué otras cosas debo fijarme para determinar si es de calidad?

No importa la calificación que tenga un proveedor, es importante visitarlo, observarlo y hacer preguntas antes de matricular a tus hijos. Los padres pueden preguntar cuántos niños hay en el salón de clases, cuánto tiempo se dedica a jugar, qué credenciales tiene el personal y si todos los empleados han pasado por una verificación de antecedentes.

Esta lista de verificación del estado — disponible en inglés y en español — es un buen resumen de las características en las que te debes fijar y las preguntas que debes hacer al visitar a un posible proveedor de cuidado infantil.

Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas relacionados con la niñez temprana y la alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un email a aschimke@chalkbeat.org

No, 1,000 Colorado child care programs are not about to close

2023-11-03T23:24:15+00:00

The headlines started appearing in July and August: A child care catastrophe was looming.

Nearly 1,100 Colorado child care programs would shutter and 83,000 young children in the state would lose care after federal COVID aid expired in September, according to projections from a national think tank.

The numbers were part of a state-by-state forecast put out by the left-leaning Century Foundation in June, intended to sound the alarm about the impact of lapsing funds — the so-called child care cliff. But Colorado officials say the nightmare scenario described in the report won’t come to pass.

“This is not at all what we are seeing in any shape or form,” said Mary Alice Cohen, director of the office of program delivery at the Colorado Department of Early Childhood.

Several factors explain the disconnect between the alarming Century Foundation projections and Colorado’s on-the-ground reality. State officials say they chose to spread COVID relief money for early childhood — about $678 million from three federal packages and $45 million from the state — among many efforts with various expiration dates. At the same time, the state’s new universal preschool program is sending new money into the sector, and some communities are beginning to tap novel funding streams, like lodging taxes, for child care.

State leaders also want to continue COVID-era strategies that made the biggest impact.

“We are going to go after federal grant funding,” said Cohen. “We’re going to work with foundations to see which ones they want to pick up and continue.”

Meanwhile, some experts have raised questions about the Century Foundation’s methodology, suggesting the numbers of potential closures are significantly inflated. The group’s analysis relied on a 2022 survey that asked child care providers whether they would have closed during the pandemic without the help of COVID aid. It didn’t ask about the likelihood they’d close after the pandemic ended and the aid expired.

Julie Kashen, the lead author of the Century Foundation report, during a recent webinar for journalists, hinted that the numbers in the report were meant to push lawmakers to act.

“Congress pays attention to things that are scary. Like, I wish that wasn’t the way of the world but it is,” she said.

Kashen went on to say that while mass child care closures are a real possibility, they’re not a foregone conclusion, and that if they occur, they will happen “slowly and over time.”

Providers knew COVID aid was short term

When the pandemic hit, Jennifer Knott’s child care center in the western Colorado city of Rifle received an influx of COVID aid. The money paid for new handwashing sinks and air filtration systems, gloves, and cleaning supplies. It also helped make up for enrollment losses and covered the cost of the additional staff needed to comply with COVID-era health rules.

Jennifer Knott operates child care centers in Rifle and Grand Junction.

“The funding was instrumental in allowing us to make the adjustments that were required to stay open,” she said.

But by the time the funding ran out more than a year ago, enrollment was back up and the center had mostly returned to pre-COVID procedures. Knots, who recently opened a center called Adventure Academy in Grand Junction and has plans for a second one on the same site, said while her margins are thin, her finances are stable.

She wondered if providers facing dire consequences because of expiring COVID aid, “are people that maybe are not running their child care centers efficiently.”

“I’m not sure why people would be experiencing that,” she said.

Leaders of some early childhood councils, which are regional groups that support child care businesses, said while providers benefited greatly from federal money, they knew it was temporary.

“We really haven’t heard the rumblings of, ‘If that goes away, I’m going to close,’” said Stephanie Bivins, director of the Mesa County Partnership for Children and Families, an early childhood council.

Sarah Romack, executive director of the Chaffee County Early Childhood Council, said local providers have “always known it’s one- or two-time funds.” As those dollars run out, she said, “I don’t think they are gonna beat down our doors, like, “What happened?”

In addition, nine of 12 providers in the county participate in the universal preschool program, which means a monthly payment from the state at rates that, for some, are about the same or higher than what they charge in tuition.

Romack said along with the influx of COVID aid, the pandemic put a magnifying glass on long-standing problems in child care, a field notorious for low pay and high turnover.

“We’re starting to have more conversations about compensation and benefits than we ever did before,” she said.

Today, there are glimmers of progress. A Chaffee County lodging tax passed last year will fund a new grant program for child care providers. Local leaders are also talking about building two new child care centers — one in a planned housing development and the other in a housing complex for senior citizens.

Child care still doesn’t pay for itself

For Mary Nelson, executive director of Denver Cooperative Preschool, the federally funded stabilization grant she received during the pandemic did exactly what it was meant to do — shore up her program during a time of financial uncertainty.

She used it to offset a rent increase, pay extra cleaning costs, and beef up end-of-year staff bonuses.

“All of that funding provided a little relief,” she said. “The relief has gone away, but the stress and pressure still exist.”

The true cost of child care exceeds the amount most parents can pay, and as Nelson found out recently, what the state can pay.

She’d hoped to participate in the state’s universal preschool program, but the reimbursement rate was too low — it would have caused an annual shortfall of $85,000. As a result, she didn’t join, and ultimately lost some preschool families and their tuition dollars.

But Nelson doesn’t want to compromise the center’s long-standing priorities, including placing three teachers in every classroom and offering the best staff pay and benefits possible.

“It sometimes makes me wonder how long we can sustain some of these ideals,” she said.

Dora Esparza, the director of business services for Denver’s Early Childhood Council, said many child care providers in the city constantly struggle because they’re “basically selling a service at a financial loss.”

She said of the expiring COVID aid, “I don’t think it’s going to push them over the brink, but I think it’s a return back to being on the brink. That is just the day in the life of [early childhood education] providers.”

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

More Colorado communities ask voters to approve lodging taxes for child care

2023-10-31T23:24:20+00:00

When Michelle Oger told staff at her child care center in the mountain town of El Jebel they’d soon be getting a $500 monthly stipend, “Everybody was kind of in disbelief,” she said, “like, ‘Wait, really?’”

The promise of more money suddenly put new options within reach: Snow tires, car repairs, a vacation with the kids. One full-time teacher who worked at Starbucks on the weekends said she’d finally be able to quit the second job.

The new stipend for child care employees in Eagle County is funded through a lodging tax, a mechanism that Colorado communities, especially in mountain resort regions, are increasingly tapping to generate new dollars for housing and child care for people who live there. The idea is that local workers power the tourism industry, so visitors should contribute to efforts that support a stable workforce. Such taxes also reframe child care as a larger economic interest rather than just a mom-and-dad issue.

At least 10 Colorado towns, counties, or local marketing districts currently earmark some of their lodging tax revenues for child care. Besides Eagle County, they include Summit, Clear Creek and San Juan counties, and towns like Estes Park and Georgetown. In November, two more communities will ask voters to approve lodging tax measures to support child care: the City of Pueblo and the Town of Ridgway in western Colorado.

“Pueblo is the first non-mountain-resort town in the whole state to pursue this,” said Sarah Martinez, a Pueblo City Council member and the facilitator of a group that has worked for years to find ways to boost child care funding.

Once an industrial powerhouse in southern Colorado, Pueblo is not primarily a tourist destination. However, it does host several big events each year, including the Colorado State Fair, the Chile and Frijoles Festival, and a hotrod show.

While most lodging taxes for child care and housing have passed, Martinez worries Pueblo’s vote could be close. Among those opposing the city’s measure is the Pueblo Lodger’s Association.

If the measure, Question 2A, passes, it would levy a 1.5% tax on hotel and motel stays — about $1.77 a night — that would generate more than $600,000 annually. The proceeds would help Pueblo families who earn too much to qualify for state child care subsidies but still struggle with the cost of care.

The lodging tax in Ridgway, a Western Colorado town considered the Gateway to the San Juan Mountains, would help pay for an affordable housing project that would include a child care center.

Colorado counties and local marketing districts, which are created by communities or regions to promote tourism, have been allowed to use lodging taxes to support child care or housing only since a law change in 2022. Before that, lodging taxes in these jurisdictions had to be used for tourism efforts. Some Colorado cities and towns have long had the authority to levy a lodging tax to support child care, but few have done so.

Josh Mantell, fiscal advocacy and special projects manager at the Bell Policy Center, said he expects to see more communities seek lodging taxes for child care.

“The state does not have the revenue to properly and adequately fund a lot of what we should consider public priorities, and funding for child care is at the top of that list” he said.

“It’s great to see communities step forward and do what they need to do,” he said.

At the same time, he worries about the inequities that may emerge as some communities pass lodging taxes and others don’t or can’t.

Millions for child care in ski country

The lodging tax Eagle County voters approved in 2022 will raise about $3 million a year for housing and child care. Such funds are typically distributed in the form of grants or other types of financial aid that providers or parents apply for. Each taxing community comes up with a spending plan based on local needs.

The new $500 monthly stipends will start flowing to full-time child care employees in November. County officials also plan to use the lodging tax proceeds to hire a health consultant to work with local child care programs, offer providers help with mortgage or rental payments, and assist with building improvements that create more infant and toddler seats.

“What’s so great about lodging taxes is it’s sustainable funding,” said Sam Markovitz, Eagle County’s early childhood initiatives manager.

Oger, executive director at Blue Lake Preschool in El Jebel as well as another center in neighboring Garfield County, hopes the new stipends will help attract and retain employees. Although her employees in Garfield County don’t qualify for the Eagle County stipends, the center’s board decided to use other funding to ensure they get the same monthly payment as their Eagle County peers.

Teachers at Blue Lake make $22 to $31 an hour depending on their experience, and aides start at $20 — about the same as the Wendy’s restaurant down the road pays. While the center has a core group of veteran teachers, Oger said there are also employees who cycle through after discovering they don’t enjoy mountain life or can’t afford to live locally.

Although Blue Lake has raised staff pay three times in three years, Oger said, “It’s still not enough to keep up with the rising costs.”

Making child care a viable career

It was a big deal when voters in Estes Park’s local marketing district approved a lodging tax increase from 2% to 5.5% for housing and child care, said Carlie Bangs, Estes Park’s housing and child care manager.

“To feel like the community sees you and is willing to support you … is really impactful,” she said.

Most of the proceeds from the tax will go toward housing initiatives in the northern Colorado town, which bills itself as the “base camp” for Rocky Mountain National Park. About 12%, or $600,000, will go toward child care.

In December, centers will get a subsidy of $25,000 to $32,000, and home-based programs can qualify for $4,000. The goal is to ensure that teachers get at least $20 an hour and aides get at least $16 an hour. Additional lodging tax money will go toward tuition assistance for families, and rental, mortgage, or building improvement help for providers.

Bangs said $600,000 is more than adequate this year, since the town has only three child care centers and three licensed home-base programs. But with about 500 children under 5 in the area, Estes Park needs more child care seats.

Bangs hopes the influx of lodging tax dollars can help make caring for children a viable option for prospective providers.

“We want to incentivize people to get licensed,” she said. “We want it to be something they do because they can put food on their table and go on vacation and live a fulfilling life with that career.”

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Smaller class sizes in Colorado’s latest draft of universal preschool rules

2023-10-31T03:27:35+00:00

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Colorado officials want to cap preschool class sizes in the state’s new universal preschool program at 20 students next year and require at least one staff member for every 10 children in the room.

These proposed limits represent a notable change from an earlier plan that allowed classes sizes of 24 preschoolers and staff-student ratios of 1 to 12. Both are higher than what leading early childhood groups recommend.

National experts panned the earlier draft of Colorado’s universal preschool quality rules, saying that the state’s proposal set a low bar and could lead to bad outcomes for kids. The new draft rules, released Monday, are set to be finalized next spring and will take effect in the fall of 2024. A state advisory committee will weigh in, but Lisa Roy, executive director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, will make the final decision.

The new draft rules reflect the balance state officials are trying to strike between ensuring the high-quality program they promised and making the requirements attainable to a wide range of providers in a low-wage, high-turnover field. Universal preschool is available in lots of settings: school district classrooms, private child care centers, faith-based preschools, and licensed home-based programs.

State officials launched the $322 million universal preschool program in August without establishing rules on quality in part because they ran out of time. State preschool leaders told providers last spring to “keep doing what you’re doing.” That means wide variations in quality this year for the more than 48,000 children getting tuition-free preschool through the program.

Some children attend preschools with top scores on the state’s child care and preschool rating system, Colorado Shines, while others attend low-rated programs. Research shows that high-quality preschool produces positive short- and long-term outcomes for children.

Colorado’s rules on preschool quality, which will spell out requirements around curriculum, staff training, and child health screenings, will eventually bring more consistency to the universal preschool program, but it could take till 2026 or after to fully phase in all the requirements.

Aside from the lower class sizes and staff-student ratios, the new draft is largely similar to the first one. As in the original, it generally requires providers to use a curriculum from a resource bank approved by the state. In addition, preschool providers would be subject to on-site evaluations every three years. It also specifically states that faith-based preschools can’t include religious instruction in hours funded by universal preschool — a rule that is not in place this year, according to a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood.

Training requirements for preschool staff are a bit different in the new draft, with employees only required to have completed four hours of training on some topics next year, down from eight in the previous draft rules. The new draft institutes the 8-hour training requirement in either 2025 or 2026 — either the third or fourth year of the program — depending on the training topic.

The new draft also delays requirements for providers to offer or coordinate health and developmental screenings for preschoolers until the 2025-26 school year.

The new draft rules don’t address preschool teacher qualifications. A separate set of rules that will take effect in the fall of 2025 will set those requirements.

The state is collecting feedback on the latest draft of the universal preschool quality rules through at least Nov. 22.

Correction: Due to incorrect information provided by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the number of children enrolled in universal preschool this year. It is more than 48,000 not 37,000.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org

IPS to tap state vouchers to fund prekindergarten as it weighs whether to charge tuition

2023-10-24T11:00:00+00:00

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Indianapolis Public Schools will rely on state-funded vouchers for its expanded prekindergarten offerings once federal pandemic relief expires in 2024, as officials weigh whether to charge for prekindergarten in the future.

Beginning next year, all families will be required to submit an application for the state’s On My Way Pre-K voucher if they want to enroll their children at any one of the 22 IPS prekindergarten sites, even if they don’t qualify for the voucher. The vouchers are offered to families who earn a gross monthly income of less than 150% of the designated federal poverty level — or about $45,000 for a family of four, according to the state Family and Social Services Administration

IPS families do not need to be eligible for the voucher in order to secure one of roughly 700 prekindergarten seats next year, IPS officials say. All families will be eligible for matching with a prekindergarten program in the district-wide lottery, according to IPS. Those who qualify for vouchers will not get preference, but other preferences do apply.

The switch to state voucher funding for the district’s prekindergarten program is one of several changes that IPS and other school districts will have to make as federal pandemic relief funds expire. It comes as officials consider whether to charge for prekindergarten for families who can afford it. IPS is one of few districts that offer free prekindergarten. Across Marion County, charging tuition is the norm.

“This is a first step that I believe will lead to us likely taking on a charge for families, because the reality is even in the districts who offer it, it is at a cost,” except for those using On My Way vouchers, Superintendent Aleesia Johnson told school board members at a work session earlier this month.

IPS anticipates receiving enough funding from the On My Way Pre-K vouchers to cover prekindergarten programming expenses, the district said in a statement.

Vouchers should bring in roughly $4.2 million to the district next year to offset a program cost projected at roughly $3.8 million, Chief Financial Officer Weston Young told school board members last week.

If voucher funding is not enough to cover the cost, the district said it will supplement it with an alternative funding source, such as its main education fund or other federal funding.

The district’s reorganization plan, known as Rebuilding Stronger, increased the number of sites offering prekindergarten, from 29 classrooms at 20 sites last school year to 30 classrooms in 21 sites this year. Next year, the district will add one more site for a total of 31 classrooms.

Source: Indianapolis Public Schools

How to apply for IPS pre-K for 2024-25

Families can apply for prekindergarten for the 2024-25 school year online through Enroll Indy when the first enrollment period opens Nov. 1. To be eligible, students must be 4 years old by Aug. 1. Enrollment decisions will be released on Feb. 22.

A second enrollment period opens on Jan. 25, with decisions released on May 16.

The application period for the On My Way Pre-K vouchers opens in March. IPS will retroactively verify with the state whether families applied for the voucher.

The enrollment lottery will give priority placement to families who live in the IPS district, IPS employees, students who have a sibling already attending the designated school, and families who live in the new enrollment zone that the school serves.

After that, remaining seats will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the district.

Families who received a prekindergarten seat next school year are guaranteed a seat in kindergarten at the same school for 2025-26.

Additional early childhood seats offered at new Howe site

IPS has also partnered with Early Learning Indiana to open another early childhood education site at the future Howe Middle School, which opens next school year. This site is separate from the 22 prekindergarten sites and offers classes for even younger ages.

Families tour the new Day Early Learning center on Oct. 19, 2023. The center offers 79 seats for toddlers, infants, preschoolers, and prekindergarten students.

This site will offer 79 seats across two infant rooms, two toddler rooms, one preschool room, and one prekindergarten room. Priority is given to IPS employees and IPS students with children.

The Day Early Learning Center at Howe opened this week with three initial infant, toddler, and preschool classes totaling 20 students, all of whom were students of IPS employees. The district offered scholarships to families enrolled this year, paid for through federal pandemic relief funds. Families had to apply for available state or federal assistance in order to qualify.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Child care ratings: Here’s what Colorado parents need to know

2023-10-16T16:56:42+00:00

When families send their young children to child care or preschool, they want them to be safe, happy, and engaged. So how can they figure out if a program is offering high-quality care?

Colorado’s child care rating system is one tool that can help. The ratings are straightforward and can be accessed through a quick online search. Keep in mind they won’t reveal everything parents need to know about a program — asking questions and visiting the site are important too — but they’re a good starting place.

Here’s a closer look at how Colorado’s child care rating system works:

How does Colorado rate child care quality?

Colorado launched a five-level quality rating system called Colorado Shines in 2015. Nearly all licensed child care and preschool providers who serve children from birth to 5 years old have one of the ratings, which are good for three years.

The lowest rating is Level 1, which indicates that a provider is licensed by the state and meets basic health and safety standards. The highest rating is Level 5, which means the provider has gone through an intensive process to demonstrate high quality in all aspects of their program — from their curriculum and business practices to teacher training and even efforts to use books and materials in a child’s home language.

Programs with Level 3 and Level 4 ratings are also considered high quality, but earned fewer points in some categories than their Level 5 counterparts.

How can I look up my child’s preschool or child care rating?

Anyone can look up child care and preschool ratings on the Colorado Shines website. You can search for a specific child care provider or for all providers in a specific geographic area. In addition to the rating, the listings include hours, contact information, and other details about providers.

You can access a Spanish version of the website by clicking on the “Spanish” link in the top right hand corner of the page. Within the next year, the state will upgrade the website to offer additional languages.

Parents can also call the state’s 211 hotline for help finding child care or determining a provider’s Colorado Shines rating. Finally, they can ask providers directly what Colorado Shines rating they have.

Does every child care provider get a rating?

The vast majority of state-licensed programs that serve young children have a Colorado Shines rating. These include child care centers, private preschools, preschools run by school districts, and home-based child care programs. Exceptions include mobile preschools, which offer classes in retrofitted buses or vans, and forest preschools, which offer programming in outdoor locations.

Unlicensed child care providers also do not receive Colorado Shines ratings. This group includes nannies, babysitters, and people who care for a small number of children who are neighbors or relatives in a home setting.

Can a child care provider with a high rating still have been subject to state investigations or penalties?

Yes. A high Colorado Shines rating means the program generally uses good child care practices, but parents and or staff members can still lodge complaints if they spot something alarming, and the state can investigate the provider based on those complaints or other concerns.

Providers who are placed on state probation can keep their existing Colorado Shines rating as long as they are working to fix the problem. However, the rating may be removed after repeated violations.

Parents can find out if a provider with any rating has been subject to complaints, state investigations, or penalties within the last three years by clicking on the blue “View Details” button at the bottom of the provider’s Colorado Shines listing. They can view reports of routine state inspections, and state inspections triggered by a complaint, a child injury, or a report of child abuse or neglect.

Karen Enboden, of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, said parents should ask providers about any violations identified by the state because the provider may be able to provide additional context or explain how they’ll ensure it won’t happen again.

“No question is off limits,” she said.

Can a child care provider have a low rating but still be high quality?

Yes. Child care providers are not required to move up the ratings ladder in Colorado Shines and may decide to stay at a Level 1 or 2 because they don’t want to jump through the hoops required for higher ratings. For example, Level 3-5 ratings require an on-site review by state evaluators.

That doesn’t mean Level 1 or 2 providers don’t take good care of children. It simply means the state hasn’t assessed how the providers run their programs other than to ensure they meet basic health and safety rules.

It’s also worth noting that new child care programs automatically come into the system with a Level 1 rating and it can take months to move to a Level 2 and more than a year to move to a Level 3 or higher. That means new programs may look “low-quality” on paper, but it’s because they haven’t had enough time to obtain higher ratings.

Enboden said parents shouldn’t necessarily shy away from a Level 1 if they feel comfortable after visiting the program.

“We do have a lot of new programs in Colorado and they are going to be listed as Level 1, but it’s probably because they’re just starting their quality journey,” she said.

If my child care provider has a low Colorado Shines rating, what other things should I look for that show quality?

No matter what rating a provider has, it’s important to visit, observe, and ask questions before enrolling your child. Parents may want to ask how many children are in the classroom at one time, how much time is dedicated to play, and what credentials staff have and if they all receive background checks.

This state checklist — available in both English and Spanish — provides a good summary of features to look for and questions to ask when visiting a prospective child care provider.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org

Chicago child care providers appeal for local funding as federal aid dries up

2023-10-06T21:22:31+00:00

Jamila Wilson said that providing child care services to families of essential workers during the height of the coronavirus pandemic made her feel like she was doing “something in a time of crisis.”

Now that the coronavirus pandemic has eased and work has returned to normal, Wilson worries that she might not be able to continue serving families in her community. The emergency federal funding that helped her and other providers keep their doors open expired on Sept. 30.

During a town hall meeting on Thursday, Wilson and members of the Illinois Child Care for All Coalition called on state and local officials to step in to prevent what they see as a looming child care crisis. The child care providers and parents who spoke Thursday night want more funding to ensure that providers are able to make a living wage, and that all families are able to access services, regardless of their income or work status.

The coalition wants state lawmakers to direct funding to Chicago and is calling on the City Council to create a revenue line in the city’s budget for child care.

Without more local funding, they warned, they risk losing their businesses or having to cut jobs, and families who are already struggling to find affordable child care for young children would be even worse off.

“It’s kind of scary,” said Wilson, who has provided home-based child care for over 18 years, when asked about the end of COVID relief funds. “I’ve already picked up a lot of debt during COVID, just so I can keep things afloat.” Wilson mentioned that she has to pay her mortgage, a business loan she took out, and student loans, and support her daughter who is in college.

Kia Jackson has a similar experience. Jackson has worked at a YMCA for 19 years and in child care for 17 years. When she first started working, she had four children and was living on an income of $10 an hour.

“As you all know, that wasn’t enough, and it was difficult,” Jackson said Thursday.

Jackson and her colleagues have unionized at the YMCA and received raises every year, but she said they still have had to take on second jobs just to make ends meet.

“We need to win child care for all in Chicago, so that families can have the child care they need and deserve, and so that we, as workers, can support ourselves and our families,” she told the crowd Thursday.

Long before COVID hit, child care centers struggled to find and retain workers and pay employees living wages or provide benefits like health insurance.

And many families, especially low-income families, have long struggled to find affordable child care, or live in child care deserts. A report from Illinois Action for Children, a nonprofit organization that helps refer parents to child care providers in Cook County, found that families in the county spend $11,500 per year for a preschool-age child at a child care center, on average, and almost $16,500 a year for an infant.

During the pandemic in 2021, the federal government under the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan Act gave states $24 billion in child care stabilization grants to help parents access child care, and help providers stay in business and increase staff. Illinois received $796.3 million in funding.

But now that the federal coronavirus emergency funding has ended, advocates warn that families and child care providers will be facing the same challenges as before if the city and state don’t help fill the gap.

Mayor Brandon Johnson is expected to put forward his first budget proposal next Wednesday. The city has previously reported a projected $534 million budget shortfall.

There is some hope that the state will step in. Gov. J.B. Pritzker declared that he wants Illinois to be No. 1 for child care during his second term in office. He promised to make new investments in early childhood for the next four years with his Smart Start Illinois plan.

Also, Illinois lawmakers increased state funding in early childhood education and child care.

This year, the General Assembly approved a $250 million increase for early childhood education in the 2024 budget. About $40 million of that went to the Department of Human Services’ early intervention program for young children with disabilities; an additional $70 million went to the Child Care Assistance Program, which helps low-income families access child care; and the Illinois State Board of Education’s early childhood block grant program, which supports creating early childhood education programs, received an additional $75 million.

As the state board prepares for the 2025 budget, early childhood education advocates want to see more money in the budget. One of those groups, Start Early Illinois, wants the state to invest another $75 million in the early childhood block grant and $5 million for children with disabilities.

Samantha Smylie is the state education reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering school districts across the state, legislation, special education, and the state board of education. Contact Samantha at ssmylie@chalkbeat.org.

‘Child care disaster’ looms in Michigan after COVID aid expires, advocates say

2023-10-03T19:32:11+00:00

Nina Hodge is willing to forgo some of her salary to make sure she can continue paying her employees at the Above and Beyond Learning Childcare Center in Detroit.

“They deserve a living wage,” said Hodge, the director and owner of the center.

She and other child care providers in Michigan are preparing to take drastic measures now that federal COVID relief funds that helped keep many centers afloat during the pandemic ran out Sept. 24. That relief came in the form of increased reimbursement rates providers received for low-income families who receive child care subsidies from the state.

Those higher rates were considered temporary during the course of the pandemic because they were funded with federal dollars that would eventually expire. Although the new rates are higher than they were before COVID, providers will still see a big reduction from what they became used to during the pandemic.

“Child care reimbursement rates may not fully support the true cost of quality, including offering competitive wages to attract and retain child care workers,” the Michigan Department of Education said in a letter to providers and families about the end of the temporary rates.

Early childhood advocates have been sounding the alarm about the loss of this money and the consequences for providers and the families who rely on their services. Without state intervention, they say, some providers will close, leaving child care workers out of work and the neediest families without child care services. Other providers, they say, will reduce services or increase their rates, or both.

A handful of organizations sent a letter last week to every Michigan lawmaker, urging them to “prevent an approaching child care disaster” by approving a supplemental budget that would maintain the funding levels that recently expired. In the letter, they said rates are declining by 26%. Department officials said they had not calculated such a percentage.

“We need new state investment now more than ever to help stabilize child care operations in Michigan. Without needed new investment, it is certain more child care businesses will close leaving a projected 56,000 young children without stable care outside the home,” the letter said.

The organizations that signed on to the letter were Michigan’s Children, Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children, Think Babies Michigan, and Michigan League for Public Policy.

The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, projected in a report earlier this year that nearly 56,700 children would lose child care services due to the drop in reimbursement rates.” That report predicted the child care funding cliff would cause 1,261 Michigan child care facilities to close. Nationwide, the foundation projected 3.2 million children to lose services and more than 70,000 facilities to close.

Some national early childhood experts, however, have taken a more conservative tone. They told Vox they don’t expect the impact to be as great, in part because some states have invested heavily in child care in recent years.

Michigan’s child care system already struggling

But if the dire predictions become true in Michigan, it would further destabilize an already troubled early childhood system.

A 2022 Muckrock investigation concluded Michigan’s child care system was in crisis, with far more so-called deserts — areas of the state where demand far outweighs available slots — than policymakers had estimated. Meanwhile, staffing challenges have made it difficult to hire staff, and low wages have providers competing with other industries for workers.

In May, more than 100 people picketed and chanted outside Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Detroit office, hoping to raise awareness of challenges in the industry and demanding more funding than lawmakers had already proposed in the state budget.

“This industry is broken to begin with,” said Matt Gillard, president and CEO of Michigan’s Children, a nonprofit advocacy organization. “It’s going to require increased public investment at both the state and federal level to solve the child care problem.”

Gillard said he hopes Michigan lawmakers act on the message in the letter his group and others sent last week. He said Michigan is “the only state that has Democratic control that has not really moved significantly to offset the reduction of the reimbursement rates with increased state resources.

“There’s a real fear out there that we’re going to see a significant number of providers either go out of business or maybe stop taking children that are eligible for a subsidy and focus their efforts on families who are able to pay higher amounts,” he said.

Michigan has done some good things, Gillard said, including a plan to transition the state to provide universal free preschool to 4-year-olds, regardless of income. Michigan has also gone to a system of reimbursing providers based on enrollment, not attendance, which would provide guaranteed funding.

Stacey LaRouche, a spokeswoman for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, cited the recent investments, including the expansion to universal preschool, in a statement to Chalkbeat. But she didn’t say whether Whitmer would push to maintain the pandemic-era rates. LaRouche said Whitmer also set a goal to open 1,000 new child care programs, and the state is 90% of the way to that goal.

“We will continue to closely monitor childcare access and strengthen our economy by helping parents return to work knowing their children are safe and learning,” LaRouche said.

For now, providers such as Hodge are planning for the worst. She had a recent meeting with her accountant in which she discussed plans to reduce the salary she pays herself from $50,000 to $30,000. Reducing the wages of her employees isn’t an option, Hodge said.

“These are the people who keep our economy going, who keep our economy thriving,” she said.

That’s precisely why there was so much effort to keep child care centers afloat during the pandemic, because essential workers needed places to send their children while they worked on the front lines of the health crisis.

Up north in Traverse City, Anna Fryer is the director and co-owner of Teddy Bear Day Care and Preschool, which has three locations in the city. Starting in 2020, the federal relief money helped subsidize salaries for workers during a delicate time when “our bank accounts were dwindling.”

To address the loss of the money and rising costs, the business recently raised its rates by between 5% and 6%. It was not an ideal decision, she said, “because we don’t want to tuition ourselves out of business.”

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. Reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan is ‘improving outcomes’ for early childhood health and education, report says

2023-09-27T04:01:00+00:00

Michigan is improving its outcomes for early childhood education, well-being, and health, according to a national report released Wednesday.

The annual report, by the nonpartisan research organization Zero to Three, details areas where Michigan performed better than national averages, such as the percentage of parents who read to their babies daily and the number of 1-year-olds participating in special supplemental nutrition programs.

The study looked at various indicators of health and well-being, such as maternal health; infant and early childhood mental health; availability of childcare; housing and economic security; as well as newly adopted policies to support health and education.

Based on the data, the authors grouped states into one of our categories. Michigan was in the second-highest category overall — “improving outcomes.” Other states in the same category include California, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Indiana.

In recent years, Michigan has invested millions of dollars to expand early childhood education initiatives.

Michigan still falls behind national averages in key areas, the report says, including the percentage of children ages 3 and younger in lower-income families who receive child care subsidies, the number of babies and toddlers who are food-insecure, the percentage of babies receiving preventive dental care, and the number of mothers reporting poor mental health.

Nearly 41% of Michigan children 3 and under come from families considered to be economically disadvantaged. The state has a higher percentage of uninsured young children in low-income families, compared with the national average, the report says, and a higher percentage of babies who have had two or more “adverse experiences,” such as economic hardship, death of a parent, or living with someone with a drug problem.

“Economic insecurity and particularly poverty literally gets under the skin of babies, impacting their neurological development as well as physiological systems,” Patricia Cole, an author of the report, said in a presentation.

Nationally, authors of the report say, there are urgent needs for the nearly 11 million children ages 3 and under in the U.S. — 2 million of whom live in poverty.

“The data from this report tell us that poverty and disparities in access to resources along racial and ethnic lines are defining features of a baby’s experience in this country,” said Miriam Calderon, chief policy officer Zero to Three. “Most of our babies will struggle with access to resources and that will affect their development.

The report identified five key priorities:

Maternal and infant health is in “crisis,” with the U.S. experiencing the one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. According to the report, racial disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes worsened during the pandemic, with data showing significant gaps in indicators such as preterm births and low birthweight.
Data included in the report suggests there is an urgent need to address young children’s mental health. Isolation and hardships during the pandemic created more emotional distress for parents, which was tied to the same in their children. Additional stress stemming from issues such as more poverty, housing instability, and mistreatment also affect parents and their children’s mental states.
The report says there is a crisis in early child care and education, with scarce access to affordable, high-quality care in many communities. Many child care centers were negatively affected by the pandemic, and the impending end of federal relief funding will exacerbate the issue, the report says.
The report found a large number of young children live in unstable or crowded housing. Crowded housing, the report says, puts children at risk of adverse effects to their development and health and, in some cases when combined with poverty, early death.
Nearly two-thirds of Black and Native American and half of Hispanic babies and toddlers live in families that are considered economically disadvantaged, which can affect their families’ ability to access needed resources to support their development and education.

Read the full report here.

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

‘Caught between two systems’: NYC family sues over missed Early Intervention services

2023-09-26T21:50:13+00:00

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After a Brooklyn toddler with autism failed to receive many of the therapies she was entitled to, two city agencies refused to provide makeup services to help her catch up, according to a federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday against the city’s health and education departments.

The case concerns a child, identified by her initials R.A., who has limited speech skills and cognitive delays and was eligible for a range of therapies through Early Intervention, a program that provides services to children with various delays from birth to age 3.

The child, who was 2-years-old at the time, was entitled to occupational, speech, and behavioral therapies, but she only received limited sessions of behavioral therapy during her seven months in the Early Intervention program and none of the occupational and speech therapies, the suit claims.

When the toddler turned 3 last year, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which operates Early Intervention for city residents, refused to provide makeup services for the therapies since she had “aged out” of the program.

The girl now attends a special education preschool. But the Education Department, which is responsible for overseeing special education plans for school-age children, has also declined to provide additional therapies to make up for what she missed during Early Intervention.

The family is “caught between two systems,” said Betty Baez Melo, the director of the early childhood education project at Advocates for Children, which brought the lawsuit along with Morrison & Foerster LLP. “Neither agency is taking accountability in order to provide the child with the services that she didn’t receive.”

The lawsuit contends that R.A. has a right to what are known as “compensatory services” under federal law to make up for lost therapy sessions. The family unsuccessfully attempted to secure compensatory services from the Health Department from an administrative law judge. (Advocates for Children is also involved in a separate federal lawsuit against the Education Department to expedite makeup services for school-age children.)

Receiving therapies early on is crucial for young children with disabilities or delays, according to experts, because their brains are still rapidly developing. Securing services early in a child’s life can also help head off the need for more extensive — and costly — special education services later on.

Though the lawsuit centers on a single child, Baez Melo said the case has implications for other families. About 58% of children who were eligible for Early Intervention didn’t receive all of the services they were entitled to between July 2018 and February 2022, according to an audit released by the state comptroller earlier this year. That period includes the onset of the pandemic, when the number of children receiving services dropped and providers scrambled to provide therapies remotely.

Spokespeople for the city’s health, education, and law departments did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

R.A.’s mother, a 29-year-old who lives in East New York and is identified in the lawsuit as B.A., said the process of securing services has been a distressing experience.

B.A. suspected her daughter might have a disability early on, as R.A. struggled to make eye contact, often repeated questions instead of answering them, had difficulty sitting still, and did not like touching or eating soft food.

The family hoped Early Intervention services could help with some of those challenges. The city initially offered teletherapy, a setup that would be difficult for the family to access since R.A. has trouble sitting still, and her mother does not speak English fluently, making it more challenging to follow a therapist’s instructions to deliver services to her daughter.

Although R.A. received some behavioral therapy, known as Applied Behavioral Analysis, it never amounted to the 20 hours a week she was supposed to receive, according to court papers. She also didn’t receive any of her required speech and occupational sessions.

Many families across the city struggle to secure providers, a challenge that is more acute in certain neighborhoods. B.A., an immigrant from Bangladesh, also wondered whether language barriers made the service coordinator take her less seriously.

“I didn’t do anything wrong — we started everything on time, but I couldn’t help my daughter,” B.A. said in Bengali during an interview that was interpreted by her sister. “She needs a lot of help besides what the [Education Department] provides.”

Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago Public Schools shows off training program for students with disabilities — and considers opening more

2023-09-25T22:20:04+00:00

Mary Fahey Hughes, a member of Chicago’s Board of Education, went into mom mode Monday during a tour of her son’s former South Side school, which provides work and life skills training to older students with disabilities.

Standing to the side of a horticulture classroom at Southside Occupational Academy High School, Hughes smiled as she snapped photos of Aidan next to Mayor Brandon Johnson, who was also on the tour. Aidan has come far from when he was diagnosed with autism as a child — and Hughes was unsure what his future would look like, she said.

She credits the Englewood school — from which Aidan graduated in June — with giving him the confidence to chat up the mayor and show off his alma mater.

“He just gained so much independence,” Hughes said in a hallway at Southside. “The thing I love about this place is there is so much respect for students where they’re at.”

Chicago Public Schools officials are considering expanding the model at Southside and a handful of other so-called specialty schools, which are meant to help students with more challenging disabilities transition into the real world, Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez said Monday.

Monday’s tour was the district’s opportunity to show off the model to Johnson and a slew of other city and district officials. If the district decides to grow the program, it would need to lobby the state for more funding, Martinez said.

“We’re having the conversation internally about, how do we look at these programs, build on their strengths and potentially expand them,” Martinez said.

The district has seven specialty schools that together enroll about 1,800 students with mild to moderate cognitive disabilities, said Sylvia Barragan, a spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools. Three schools are early childhood programs that serve younger students with disabilities. The remaining four — including Southside — are for older students and have a focus on vocational and life skills.

Unlike traditional high schools, the district assigns students to these schools, Barragan said.

Some students with disabilities who look for work after graduation may benefit more from going through a specialty program first, Martinez said. He believes the need is enough to warrant doubling the number of specialty schools.

Other districts, such as New York City, have similar programs where students with disabilities learn vocational skills.

These programs, however, have drawn some criticism for segregating students with disabilities, instead of allowing students to build skills next to peers who don’t have a diagnosed disability.

Southside Principal Joshua Long has said his school model allows students to have the specialized attention they need.

At Southside, nearly 88% of students came from low-income families last year. Asked if schools like Southside limit students to low-paying jobs, Hughes said the programs hone skills that these young adults may otherwise miss out on, potentially leaving them stuck at home without work. Hughes noted that the schools serve students with a variety of strengths, and some graduates go on to community college.

“The problem is that a lot of jobs are low-paying, despite the amount of work that needs to get done,” Hughes said.

High school students can attend Vaughn Occupational High School and Northside Learning Center High School, both on the Northwest Side. Southside, in Englewood, and Ray Graham Training Center, in the South Loop, serve students who have met graduation requirements but still need “transition supports and services,” as determined by the team that creates their Individualized Education Program, according to the district. At these two schools, students are typically ages 18-22.

At Southside, where 360 students enrolled last year, students learn about various potential jobs and responsibilities they will need in the real world. Most students are exposed to every class, and some do internships, such as with the Museum of Science and Industry, said Kristen Dimas, a teacher at the school.

Long led the mayor and other officials through several different rooms that simulate a different career or life responsibility. Among the classrooms they saw were a horticulture class, a mock grocery store, a broadcast studio with a green screen, a garage where students learn to wash cars, and a café — complete with a bakery display case.

A group of students stopped by the horticulture room to ask if they had laundry. They would eventually go to the laundry room, where they learn how to wash clothes but also learn a mental checklist on basic hygiene.

“Smell your armpits. Do they smell fresh?” said a laminated list in the laundry room. “If not, put on deodorant.”

In a supply room, where a laminated document listed rules for folding a T-shirt, a student carefully practiced folding. Long gently asked her to get the mayor’s T-shirt size, but the student was shy. The mayor, who used to be a teacher, ultimately revealed he’s an extra large.

Mayor Brandon Johnson watches a student practice folding a T-shirt at Southside Occupational Academy High School in Englewood.

“But here’s the thing — you don’t have to tell everybody that,” he said to the student, who laughed and handed him a T-shirt.

The café and laundry classes are favorites of 18-year-old Josiah Hall, who enrolled at Southside in August. He especially enjoys spending time with the teachers, he said. He hopes to attend a four-year university, such as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The school works to help students understand the career options that are right for them and to reach those goals, Long said.

For Aidan, Hughes’ son, that path has led to a new transition program for adults age 18 and older at Daley College. He’s also taking EMT classes and dreams one day of being a firefighter like his father.

Correction: Sept. 26, 2023: A previous version of this story said the program at Daley College is for people age 22 and older. It is for people age 18 and older.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

COVID relief helped Cook County child care providers stay open, but advocates say more support is needed

2023-09-11T19:13:56+00:00

Child care providers in Cook County were able to stay open during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic due to federal funding, but a new report finds that the region still lacks licensed home-care providers, spots for infants, hours in the evening, and affordable options.

For working families, having a safe affordable place to send their children during the work day is essential, but child care in Cook County continues to be expensive — on average $11,500 per year for a preschool child at a child care center and almost 16,500 a year for an infant, according to the report by Illinois Action for Children — a nonprofit organization that helps refer parents to child care providers in Cook County.

To address some of the barriers, the report recommends expanding eligibility for the state’s Child Care Assistance Program to make child care less expensive for families, increasing reimbursements for child care providers to help cover the costs of running their business, and using state funds to increase the number of licensed home-based care providers.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he wants to make Illinois “the number one” state for child care access. The state invested $250 million in early childhood education for Pritzker’s Smart Start Illinois program with the hope of making child care affordable for families.

Illinois Action for Children’s 2023 report examined the state of child care in Cook County, which includes Chicago and surrounding suburbs, from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 using their database of providers. Despite a mix of child care providers and settings, such as a center or care in someone’s home, there is a shortage of child care providers.

Here are four things you should know about the state of child care in Cook County from the report:

Child care centers stayed open with help from COVID-19 funding

The coronavirus pandemic “had the potential to devastate” an already fragile child care system, the report said. While some Cook County providers did close — 2% of child care centers and 12% of home-based care providers — the $980 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds distributed by the state’s department of human services helped to stabilize the industry.

Marcia Stoll, assistant director of research at Illinois Action for Children, said that the Illinois Action for Children data reveals just part of what Cook County’s child care providers went through during the pandemic. Stoll said she learned from providers that a workforce shortage in the industry has created challenges for providers and limited access to care for families.

“We’ve heard anecdotally that some have closed classrooms because they don’t have enough staff or operate shorter hours,” said Stoll. “So, it has made finding care harder for families. It’s not all a rosy picture.”

Home care providers declined during pandemic years

Cook County saw a 12% decrease in home-based providers, or 343 homes, from 2019 to 2022. The report noted that while the drop is “concerning,” the year-to-year decrease is similar to the trend prior to the pandemic. Over the past decade, there has been a 31% decline in the number of home-based providers.

Juliet Bromer, a research scientist at the Erikson Institute — a Chicago-based higher education institution that focuses on early childhood education — said home-based providers disappear because they are expensive to run, providers often work long hours, and the state’s current child care system is hard for an individual to navigate in order to receive funding that a child care center might have. A mix of these issues create burnout causing some providers to leave.

“In every study I’ve done, I heard a version of this quote, ‘I am the cook, the bookkeeper, the psychologist, the teacher, the parent,’” said Bromer.

Illinois Action for Children recommends that the state provide funding to help providers get a state license, offer startup grants, and reimburse home-based providers at a higher rate.

Early morning, evening, or weekend child care is often unavailable

Parents who don’t work a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job often can’t find child care early in the morning, in the evening, on the weekend or overnight, the report found. An analysis of census data for Cook County found that 34% of parents with low incomes need early morning child care from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m and 16% need child care in the evening from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m., according to the report. For parents looking for child care at these times, the report found that licensed home-based child care providers are more likely to offer services.

The report says the state could create policies that would allow families to mix the type of child care they need to ensure that they have care throughout the day. For instance, the state could allow parents to use home-based care during the evenings and center care during the daytime.

Child care is still expensive for families

The federal Department of Health and Human Services says child care should only cost 7% of a family’s income according to the report. For many families who don’t meet the threshold for the state’s child care assistance program and have infants or two or more children, child care consumes a large portion of household income. In 2022, the monthly income limit to qualify for assistance for a family of four was $5,203.

According to the report, the average price for center care for a 2-year-old accounted for 15% of family income in 2021, two times higher than what’s recommended. Illinois Action for Children recommends increasing eligibility for the state’s child care assistance program to support more families.

The report also recommends that the state increase reimbursement rates for providers so they pay staff a higher salary and continue to give families high-quality care.

Correction: Sept. 11, 2023: This story has been updated to reflect that Marcia Stoll is the assistant director of research for Illinois Action for Children, not the director of research.

Colorado parents: Need help paying for preschool? Check out these programs.

2023-08-29T20:00:33+00:00

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Starting this fall, Colorado is offering 10 to 15 hours of tuition-free preschool to all 4-year-olds as part of the state’s universal preschool program. More than 40,000 families have already applied, but the application process is still open and will be available throughout the year.

But what if you need more class time for your child than just 10 to 15 hours a week?

There are several ways to get financial help for those extra hours. The universal preschool program will pay for up to 30 hours of preschool a week for some children. They must be from low-income families and fall into one of the following categories: English language learner, homeless, in foster care, or have a special education plan. Simply being from a low-income family is not enough to qualify for 30 hours.

We’ve compiled a list of other programs that may help cover extra hours of preschool, including Head Start, the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program, and, for Denver residents, the Denver Preschool Program. Summit County also offers tuition assistance for preschoolers, through its Summit Pre-K Program, though the application window generally runs from May 1-31.

Military families may be eligible for financial help through the Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood program, which is for families who can’t access military-operated child care programs because of waitlists or the distance from their homes.

Finally, it’s worth asking your child’s preschool if they offer scholarships or discounts that could help lower the cost of care.

For questions about universal preschool or adding extra hours, contact the universal preschool help desk at 303-866-5223 or the local group in your county that is helping run universal preschool.

Here’s a quick look at some of the programs that can be combined with universal preschool to provide students with full-day classes.

Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP)

What is it: A state program that helps low-income families pay for child care, including preschool. Parents must be working, looking for work, or attending school.

Who’s eligible: Families whose children are citizens or legal permanent residents and whose household income is 200% to 270% of the federal poverty line. That’s $60,000 to $81,000 for a family of four. Each county sets its own income criteria, so check here for details based on where you live.

Financial aid: CCCAP covers most of the cost of child care for qualifying families, with the amount varying based on how much care a child needs above their universal preschool hours. Families who qualify also have to pay a parent fee — a co-pay that varies based on income, family size, and the number of children in child care.

How to apply: Online in English or Spanish, or contact your county’s department of human services.

What to know about combining with universal preschool: Only some preschools participate in the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program. Ask the universal preschool provider you selected if they take CCCAP, or find the provider name in the universal preschool application and click on the “View More Information” link. A pop-up box will tell you more about the provider, including if they take CCCAP or offer other financial help.

Some families who qualify for CCCAP may not receive assistance because of funding shortfalls — particularly once federal COVID stimulus dollars run out in 2024.

Denver Preschool Program

What is it: A Denver program that provides sliding-scale tuition help for 4-year-olds in preschool regardless of family income.

Who’s eligible: Denver residents who have 4-year-old children attending preschool regardless of immigration status.

Financial aid: Tuition credits range from $36 to $1,227 a month for up to 12 months, and are paid to the school on the family’s behalf. Use the Denver Preschool Program’s tuition credit calculator to estimate your monthly tuition credit. Credits are based on family size, income, and the quality of the preschool selected.

How to apply: Online any time in English or Spanish, or contact the Denver Preschool Program at (303) 595-4377 or info@dpp.org. Applications in PDF form are available in Chinese/Mandarin, French, Russian, Vietnamese, Somali, Amharic, and Nepali.

What to know about combining with universal preschool: Apply to universal preschool first and once your child is enrolled in a preschool, apply to the Denver Preschool Program. This is necessary because the Denver Preschool Program application requires that families list the preschool their child is attending. Most Denver preschools participating in universal preschool also participate in the Denver Preschool Program, but there are a few that don’t. Check here to find preschools participating in the Denver Preschool Program.

Head Start

What is it: A federally funded program that provides free preschool, health services, and family support to children from low-income families, regardless of immigration status.

Who’s eligible: Children who are 3 to 5 years old in families with a household income at or below the federal poverty guideline. That’s $30,000 a year for a family of 4. Children who are homeless, in foster care, or whose families receive public assistance are also eligible regardless of income.

Financial aid: Head Start is a free preschool program that provides part-time or full-time hours to the children it serves.

How to apply: Search here for providers near you and contact the center directly to apply. For help finding a Head Start provider, call 866-763-6481.

What to know about combining with universal preschool: Only certain preschool providers offer Head Start. The universal preschool application also shows whether providers participate in Head Start. For help, contact the Head Start provider you’re interested in or the local group that helps run universal preschool.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan attorney general: It’s too soon to rule on new education agency

2023-08-28T16:17:35+00:00

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said it’s too soon to issue an opinion on the constitutionality of a new education agency created by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer by executive order last month.

In response to a request from the State Board of Education for a ruling, Nessel said in a letter to state Superintendent Michael Rice Monday that the newly formed Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, or MiLEAP, could overlap with the board’s constitutional authority to oversee public education. But she said she would wait until after the governor’s executive order is implemented in December to see whether such a conflict happens.

Unless and until such a situation arises, she said, “issuing any type of opinion on potentially overlapping authority of the Board and MiLEAP is premature.”

The Democratic-controlled state board voted unanimously on Aug. 8 to seek a ruling from Nessel’s office on the new agency, which would take over some functions of the Michigan Department of Education, including responsibility for early childhood education programs. The elected state board chooses the MDE’s leader.

“Given the response from the attorney general, I believe that the actions and possible encroachment of the new department will be closely monitored,” said Pamela Pugh, president of the board, in a prepared statement Monday. “The State Board will not stand by and watch its authority be threatened or stripped away, at the expense of our children’s future.”

Rice said he “appreciates the attorney general’s review and initial reflections, as well as the letter’s ramifications.”

Pugh said she at the time of the board’s vote she wanted to ensure the new agency would satisfy the intent of the framers of Michigan’s constitution given that they separated public education from the governor’s office.

Nessel noted in the letter that Whitmer’s executive order specifies that nothing in the law should diminish the constitutional authority of the state board. If that intent is honored, Nessel said, the executive order could be deemed constitutional.

Stacey LaRouche, press secretary for the governor, said earlier this month that Whitmer’s office consulted with the attorney general’s team while drafting the law and that they were confident in the order’s legal authority.

Whitmer, a Democrat, has said MiLEAP was created to streamline lifelong education in the state, from pre-K to higher education to workforce development.

Under her order, the Office of Great Start, which serves the educational needs of children up to age 8, would move from the MDE to MiLEAP. The Governor’s Educator Advisory Council and the Michigan PreK-12 Literacy Commission would also shift to the purview of the new agency.

Authority for overseeing operations of K-12 education would remain with the MDE. Both the MDE and the state board will work with the new department, Whitmer said.

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

More early childhood workers are attending colleges and university, report says

2023-08-18T22:45:29+00:00

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More early childhood workers in Illinois are pursuing higher education degrees — moving closer toward a goal set out by state officials two years ago, a new report found.

The Illinois Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity’s first annual report, released on Wednesday, found that since 2020 about 500 additional students who already work in early childhood education have enrolled in bachelor’s degree and applied associate programs, an increase of about 18%. The report also found an increase in the number of Latino and African American child care professionals who enrolled in college since 2020.

Ireta Gasner, vice president of Illinois Policy at Start Early, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago that advocates for early childhood education, said it is important for child care professionals to get degrees to understand child development and to get higher wages.

“A lot of folks want to go back to school, but it’s difficult to do so because there’s a lot of systemic barriers between two-year and four-year schools,” said Gasner. “There is a lack of financial support that fits the needs of adult students like paying for transportation, child care, tuition, and books.”

A March 2020 report from Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies said “an estimated 28,000 early childhood education teachers and assistants would benefit from an opportunity to seek postsecondary credentials.”

The Illinois legislature passed a law in 2021 creating the consortium to pressure public universities and community colleges to create faster pathways for current child care professionals to earn college degrees. According to the report, over $200 million in funding for the consortium comes from the Illinois Department of Human Services’ federal COVID relief funds.

In order for the consortium to reach its goal of enrolling almost 5,000 members in higher education programs, it will need to complete this task by September 2024 when emergency funding expires.

Christi Chadwick, ECACE co-project director, said that when the legislation was passed in 2021, the consortium knew some funding for the work would expire in three years, so the group’s focus has been on building infrastructure to make sure that students have access to pathways in institutions of higher education.

“A lot of work has been happening in institutions around program redesign. So that pathways are smooth at two-year institutions or four-year institutions and between the two, and also working to put systems in place within institutions to better support the workforce,” said Chadwick.

For years, child care professionals and advocates have raised alarms about low wages and note that early childhood educators often have to work multiple jobs to make a living wage

A report from the Chicago Early Childhood Workforce Partnership Employer Council last fall found that Chicago’s early childhood educators are paid $18,000 less on average than elementary school teachers in Chicago Public Schools, despite having the same degrees. The gap is even wider for early childhood educators of color compared to white educators.

In addition to the consortium, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Smart Start Illinois initiative includes $130 million for an effort called the Childcare Workforce Compensation Contracts, which is aimed at increasing the salaries of child care workers and bringing more educators into the field.

According to a press release from the state on Wednesday, state agencies and universities who are a part of the consortium have worked on several initiatives to ensure that finances are not a barrier for current early childhood workers, the majority of whom are women and people of color.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board, and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission launched the ECACE Scholarship in 2021. In the first year of the scholarship, over 400 students were awarded $5.7 million. In the first six months of the second year of the program, $7 million was awarded to over 1,000 students.

Colleges and universities that are a part of the consortium have created their own initiatives to tackle financial barriers preventing workers going to school and to support them once they are on campus. According to the press release, some universities have given students laptops, academic tutoring, and test preparation to help them pass early childhood education licensing exams.

The report from the consortium shows a lot of promise, but figuring out how to expand the program will depend on whether it is sustainable after federal coronavirus relief funds expire in 2024, said Gasner.

“Once people feel like this is going to be here in four years or in two years, they’re going to be more likely to continue to engage,” said Gasner. “We’re going to be able to talk more about whether the scholarship needs to be further further tweaked. But all of that growth and progress is going to rely on sustainability.”

Correction: Aug. 23, 2023: A previous version of this story said $7 million had been awarded during the second year of the ECACE Scholarship. The story has been updated to reflect that $7 million was awarded during the first six months of the second year of the program.

Colorado school district leaders sue state over free preschool program rollout

2023-08-17T19:05:37+00:00

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Six Colorado school districts and two statewide education groups sued the state Thursday, claiming Colorado’s universal preschool program is harming children with disabilities and breaking financial promises to families and school districts.

The Colorado Association of School Executives, the Consortium of Directors of Special Education, and six districts filed the lawsuit against Gov. Jared Polis, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, and the Colorado Department of Education in Denver district court on Thursday. The districts include Brighton-based 27J, Cherry Creek, Harrison, Mapleton, Platte Valley, and Westminster.

The groups allege that children will miss out on vital special education services, full-day preschool classes, or any preschool at all because the state’s online matching system is rife with problems. In several of the plaintiff districts, the first day of preschool was this week, but lots of children were missing from class rosters.

The Colorado Department of Early Childhood is running the new preschool program, but the Department of Education is in charge of ensuring that preschoolers with disabilities are served according to special education laws. Launching universal preschool has been one of Polis’ signature priorities since he hit the campaign trail in 2018.

The lawsuit marks the latest and probably most significant bump in the rocky rollout of the preschool program, which offers 10 to 30 hours of tuition-free preschool a week to all 4-year-olds in Colorado and 10 hours to some 3-year-olds. Technology problems, poor communication, and last-minute changes have left many preschool providers and parents confused and frustrated in the run-up to the program’s launch this month.

The lawsuit touches on many of the same issues, with one of the school districts’ most pressing concerns being how the matching system functions — or doesn’t.

Mat Aubuchon, executive director of learning services for the Westminster district north of Denver, described a mother who showed up to preschool Thursday with a three- and a four-year-old — and the school had to turn away the three-year-old because they couldn’t verify the child was correctly placed.

These problems could have been avoided, superintendents said at a press conference, if district administrators had been included years earlier in the preschool planning process.

“I’m saddened that we’re here today,” said Cherry Creek Superintendent Christopher Smith. “All we’re asking is to be part of the solution.”

Thursday’s lawsuit is the third one the state has faced over universal preschool. In June, a Christian preschool in Chaffee County sued the Department of Early Childhood, alleging that a non-discrimination agreement the state requires from universal preschool providers would prevent it from operating in accordance with its religious beliefs. Two Catholic parishes that operate preschools filed a similar lawsuit on Wednesday.

But the school districts’ lawsuit touches more directly on one of universal preschool’s stated purposes: to help children who need it most get a strong foundation for school.

A spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood said the department would not comment on pending litigation.

In an emailed statement, Polis spokesman Conor Cahill lamented that the plaintiffs were distracting from the successes of universal preschool and pledged to defend the program “vigorously” in court.

“While it’s unfortunate to see different groups of adults attempting to co-opt preschool for themselves, perhaps because they want to not allow gay parents to send their kids to preschool, or they want to favor school district programs over community-based early childhood centers, the voters were clear on their support for parent choice and a universal, mixed delivery system that is independently run, that doesn’t discriminate against anyone and offers free preschool to every child no matter who their parents are,” Cahill said.

Jeremy Meyer, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Education, said officials there are still reviewing the complaint.

“It is important to us to emphasize that CDE fundamentally values serving all students, and we are absolutely committed to ensuring preschool students with disabilities receive all the services they are entitled to under federal law to prepare them for success in school,” he said in an email.

A glitchy preschool algorithm creates district headaches

The state’s online preschool matching system — called BridgeCare — is at the center of the latest lawsuit. Starting last winter, preschools listed their offerings on the platform and families used it to apply for a spot. A computer algorithm then matched kids to seats.

But the system doesn’t always work. That’s led to long waits for parents on the state’s helpline, time-consuming manual fixes by regional groups tasked with helping run the new program, and preschool spots that go unfilled despite high local demand, according to the lawsuit.

In addition, district officials’ access to the platform is so limited they sometimes can’t properly place children with disabilities or even contact their families, according to the lawsuit. As a result, public schools can’t fulfill their legal obligation to such students and their parents, the plaintiffs said.

The lawsuit describes a last-minute effort in late July to give districts additional access to BridgeCare. In the Harrison district, it yielded days of fruitless back-and-forth between state and district staff about erroneous or missing sign-ups. Although district officials expected 124 students with disabilities to be matched with their classrooms, zero showed up on the list. State officials suggested the district “do some family outreach,” according to the lawsuit.

“We have failed students and we have failed their families,” Harrison Superintendent Wendy Birhanzel said during the press conference. “They will continue to lose instruction until changes are made.”

Bret Miles, executive director of the Colorado Association of School Executives, said part of the reason for problems with BridgeCare is that the state didn’t spend the money needed to get a system with more capabilities.

“They bought a cheaper version of it,” he said.

Bret Miles, executive director of the Colorado Association of School Executives, center, talks about his organization’s lawsuit at a press conference. He was joined by CASE Deputy Director Melissa Gibson, left, and CASE General Counsel Michelle Murphy, right.

Besides the matching system, the lawsuit alleges several instances in which state officials rolled back funding pledges, inappropriately diverted money for students with disabilities to the general education preschool fund, or are delaying payments.

The suit cites a promise by the state to pay for full-day preschool for students from low-income families, or who have one of four other risk factors. State officials announced in late July that only a fraction of those students — those from low-income families who also have a second risk factor — are eligible for tuition-free full-day classes.

The Westminster district north of Denver, where many students come from low-income families, will spend $2 million this year to ensure more than 170 4-year-olds whose families expected full-day classes will get them at no cost, according to the lawsuit. The Harrison district, which also has many students from low-income families, estimated it will have to spend several million dollars to cover full-day preschool for children the state now won’t cover.

The suit also claims the state reappropriated $38 million that was supposed to be used for preschoolers with disabilities into a pot of general education preschool dollars. In addition, it alleges the state plans to hold back some money until next June that districts need this year.

Scott Smith, Cherry Creek’s chief financial and operating officer, said when he and other district leaders raised concerns to state officials more than a year ago that there wouldn’t be enough money to fully fund the new preschool program, “We were continually disregarded.”

“That funding isn’t there and wasn’t there,” he said.

About 39,000 Colorado 4-year-olds have been matched with a preschool through the universal program so far. Most families were able to choose from a variety of preschool settings, including schools, child care centers, or state-licensed homes, but parents of students with disabilities were not. Such students — about 12% of the total — will generally be served in public schools, which have a legal responsibility to provide services spelled out in each child’s federally mandated special education plan.

The new $322 million preschool program is funded with proceeds from a voter-approved nicotine tax and dollars from the state’s previous, smaller preschool program, which was only for students from low-income families or who had other risk factors.

Through last school year, Colorado preschoolers who had diagnosed disabilities were served through the state’s “early childhood special education” program. School district teams placed the vast majority of those children in classrooms where at least half of students were typically developing kids.

This year, under the universal preschool program, integrating students with disabilities and their typical peers is still the goal, but the state’s electronic platform has taken over the role district officials used to play. That’s led to some children being matched to settings that don’t make sense or classrooms that don’t have the right balance of children, requiring convoluted change requests that have often further frustrated parents.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Fact-checking Gov. Polis’ statements on universal preschool and full-day classes

2023-08-16T00:14:45+00:00

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Thousands of Colorado families believed their 4-year-olds would get tuition-free full-day preschool through Colorado’s new universal preschool program. In July, they found out it wasn’t true.

The state didn’t have enough money for every child from a low-income family or with another risk factor to get full-day classes. Instead, only a fraction of them — those with low-income status and a second risk factor — would get the longer school day at no cost to their families. The rest had to come up with the extra tuition money themselves, drop down to a half-day program, or bow out altogether.

It was a blow to families, but also a blow to the $330 million universal preschool program that Gov. Jared Polis has made a signature priority of his tenure. For months, critics have charged that the program’s rollout has been rushed, messy, and confusing.

In a recent interview with 9News reporter Marshall Zelinger, Polis tried to explain why some children with risk factors wouldn’t get the 30 hours a week their families thought they were promised.

He provided a variety of answers: There’s not enough space. Families seeking full-day classes just want child care. Half-day preschool is better for kids.

So, what’s true?

Chalkbeat fact-checked some of the claims Polis made about universal preschool. Here’s what we found.

Is there enough space?

What Gov. Polis said: “There’s nothing even close to the space for full-day preschool.”

Fact check: This is partially true, but misleading. There are more than 24,000 full-day seats offered by Colorado’s universal preschool providers this year, according to April numbers from the state’s Department of Early Childhood. That’s more than enough for the more than 14,000 4-year-olds who have at least one risk factor and whose families were initially told their children would be eligible for tuition-free full-day classes.

The reason many of those 14,000 children are not being offered full-day preschool as their families expected is because the state doesn’t have enough money, not because it doesn’t have enough space. In some cases, full-day classes may be unavailable in a particular preschool or community, but on a statewide basis there are full-day seats available.

Polis is correct that there’s not enough physical space for full-day preschool for every 4-year-old who will participate in the universal program this year — more than 30,000 kids — but that was never the plan to begin with.

Child care vs. preschool

What Gov. Polis said: “Are you saying you want to pick your kid up at 2:30? Or five, right? If they say 2:30, then they’re in it for the full-day preschool because they value that academic experience. If they’re saying five, because I work and I can’t pick up my kid until five, they need a child care solution.”

Fact check: This is misleading. Polis’ comments suggest that parents wanted something out of universal preschool that wasn’t being offered, namely child care. But the state has long planned to offer full-day preschool hours to some families, clearly stating that in the application and other messaging. In some cases, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, which is running the new program, even used the word “care” to describe the extra hours of preschool. (On Facebook, for example.)

Finally, giving children educationally enriching experiences and supervising them while parents work aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s also worth noting that preschool classrooms, like infant and toddler classrooms, are governed by state child care rules — so in that sense, preschool is child care.

Is half-day preschool best?

What Gov. Polis said: “This is a half-day universal preschool program. That’s what the voters approved. It’s also developmentally appropriate. Kids benefit the most in that 15-to-20-hour range.”

Fact check: Not necessarily. A 2019 experimental study of preschoolers in the Westminster district north of Denver found that full-day students outperformed half-day students in early literacy, math, physical, and socioemotional development. Full-day students attended for 30 hours a week and half-day students attended for 12 hours a week.

The study was particularly notable because it used gold-standard methodology, with students randomly assigned to full-day or half-day classes. The authors, including Allison Atteberry, who was then at the University of Colorado Boulder, concluded that the study provided compelling evidence “that a full-day, full-week preschool supports young children’s development, at least among a sample of primarily low-income, Latinx children.”

Is universal preschool high-quality?

What Gov. Polis said: “We are funding high-quality preschool.”

Fact check: This is not true. While many participating preschools may offer high-caliber programming, state officials are not requiring providers to meet any particular quality standards during the program’s first year. All providers must meet basic health and safety standards, but those have long been necessary to get a state child care license. The state told providers in April to “keep doing what you’re doing,” and said rules on quality will be added for the 2024-25 school year.

Experts say preschool can produce short- and long-term benefits for kids, but only if it’s high quality. Class-size limits, staff credentials, teacher training requirements, and curriculum choice are often among the criteria used to measure preschool quality.

The universal preschool program has already backed away from class-size rules used in Colorado’s previous targeted preschool program, which was for students with risk factors. The targeted program, which ended in June, capped class sizes at 16 children, while the universal preschool program will allow classes of up to 24.

Elementary students get the same hours. Should preschoolers?

What Gov. Polis said: “I view preschool much like I view first grade, second grade, third grade, fourth grade. We don’t give more fourth grade hours to low-income families.”

Fact check: This is misleading. It may be true that fourth graders from low-income households don’t get extra hours of school, but they already get six or seven hours of class a day.

Since the inception of Colorado’s universal preschool program, state leaders have talked about giving students with the highest needs more preschool to help them get ready for kindergarten. The 2022 law creating universal preschool says to ensure equity, the state “must” invest in extra preschool for children in low-income families. As details of the new program unfolded last year, state officials spelled out what that additional programming would entail: 15 extra hours a week, for a total of 30.

Colorado has long made a point to provide extra help to children who face barriers to educational success — providing extra funding to their schools or direct support to their families. In fact, until the universal preschool program launched this month, Colorado’s publicly funded preschool program targeted only students from low-income families or who had other risk factors. In short, the state recognizes that some kids need more help than others and routinely crafts policy based on that distinction.

Letter informing parents their children won’t get tuition-free full-day preschool

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Newark pushes pre-K participation following enrollment increase last year

2023-08-10T10:00:00+00:00

The first day of school is four weeks away, but Newark’s youngest citizens were eager to get to a South Ward school Tuesday to jump in a bounce house and get free ice cream.

The carnival atmosphere at the second annual “Road Trip to Pre-K” at Belmont Runyon Elementary is part of Newark Public Schools’ ongoing effort to increase preschool enrollment and connect parents with city resources. Preschool is not mandatory in New Jersey, but Newark children are eligible to participate for free in the district’s program.

Early childhood education programs are important because “they create a foundation for children’s future success” and build skills in reading and math, said Yolonda Severe, executive director of the district’s office of early childhood education.

The district’s early childhood work begins with its “conception to cradle program,” known as the Conception to Grade 3 Consortium, to ensure Newark children are meeting development milestones and childhood needs, according to the district’s 10-year-strategic plan.

Newark Public Schools children and families attend the second annual “Road Trip to Pre-K” event.

In Newark schools, preschool programs are offered to three- and four-year-old children, known as pre-K3 and pre-K4, and include classrooms with no more than 15 students, a curriculum, and certified staff, Severe added. Families can choose among three free six-hour preschool options available through the district: Head Start, a federally-funded program for low-income families; other options within city schools, and programs run by community providers and privately managed at various locations throughout Newark.

The district also offers free after-school child care at its 14 elementary schools that offer the Head Start preschool program.

This school year, roughly 6,900 students are enrolled in preschool across 40 elementary schools within the district – an increase from last year’s 6,600 students, Severe said. She added that there are “enough places in the city for all of our students.” Severe credits the enrollment increase to her team’s efforts in sharing information about the program with parents in the community, recruiting families, and the district’s marketing strategies.

The district team’s work starts by contracting with hospitals, clinics, and social service agencies to calculate the number of babies born in a specific year, according to the district’s Conception to Grade 3 Consortium. The district uses that information to gauge how many students should be enrolled in pre-K3 or pre-K4 programs for any given school year and ensure parents are aware of their preschool programs, Severe said. But before a baby is enrolled in school, district social workers work with parents to connect them with city resources such as diapers, clothes, or other support they may need.

“You’ll be surprised at the amount of parents that don’t know what resources are here within the city,” Severe said.

The district’s program is being refined, Severe said, with the goal of “building capacity within our city.” Existing pre-K locations are being expanded to offer more seats for students and “keep families in Newark,” Severe added.

Additionally, social workers visit and vet different infant and toddler programs offered throughout the city that are then recommended to parents looking for different options. Parents also can choose to enroll their child in a school or program closest to their home or work, providing a flexible option for families tailored to their needs.

Leti Carbajal attended Tuesday’s event along with her three-year-old daughter, who’s currently enrolled at Luiz Muñoz Marín for the school year. Before Tuesday, Carbajal didn’t know about the different school locations available across the city but was happy to learn more about her options and community resources.

“I really enjoyed being able to talk to the teachers and staff representatives here,” said Carbajal in Spanish.

Preschool teachers prepare students for kindergarten; this year, the district is launching its literacy initiative as part of the city’s larger plan to get Newark students reading and writing. During Tuesday’s event, the district gave away free books in different languages.

“We’re working to ensure that those kids that are transitioning from pre-K4, actually understand the curriculum going into a full-day program,” Severe said.

New Jersey started offering free pre-K in 1998 under a Supreme Court ruling specific to the Schools Development Authority districts, formerly known as Abbott districts, considered the poorest in the state.

Expanding pre-K opportunities has been a priority for Gov. Phil Murphy since taking office in 2018. Since then, the program has expanded to over 160 school districts, opening seats for more than 12,000 additional children in the state, according to Murphy’s administration. Last year, the governor allocated $120 million in grants for preschool expansion at 16 school districts.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan state school board seeks ruling on constitutionality of new education agency

2023-08-08T22:04:45+00:00

Michigan’s State Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to ask for clarity from the attorney general on the constitutionality of a new education agency created by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer by executive order last month.

The newly formed Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, or MiLEAP, would take on some key functions of the Michigan Department of Education, whose leader is selected by the state board.

The board’s resolution notes that the state constitution vests leadership and supervision of public education in the elected board, and that there may be overlapping authority between the existing education department and MiLEAP.

The resolution directs State Superintendent Michael F. Rice to ask Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel for a formal opinion on the matter.

“The framers of our constitution intentionally separated public education outside of the governor’s office,” Board President Pamela Pugh said during the meeting, adding that the board wanted to ensure that the executive order creating the agency satisfies the framers’ intent.

Stacey LaRouche, press secretary for the governor, said her office consulted with the attorney general while drafting the law.

“We are confident in our legal authority and look forward to working with everyone who is serious about providing Michigan students with a world class public education,” she said.

Nikki Snyder, one of two Republicans on the Democratic-controlled board, said she believes creating another department would bring “chaos and confusion.”

“I definitely have major concerns about the constitutionality of the governor’s executive order,” she said. “I’m not sure that the AG opinion will satisfy those concerns. It’s definitely a step forward.”

Whitmer, a Democrat, said at the time of the announcement that MiLEAP was created to streamline lifelong education in the state from pre-K, to higher education, to workforce development.

The basic functions of K-12 education will remain with the MDE under the law. Both the MDE and the state board will work with the new department, Whitmer said.

The Office of Great Start, which serves the educational needs of children up to age 8, would move from the MDE to the new department under Whitmer’s order, along with the Governor’s Educator Advisory Council and the Michigan PreK-12 Literacy Commission.

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Colorado school districts rush to fill job openings before school starts

2023-08-07T17:27:09+00:00

There were stay-at-home mothers looking for work that matched their children’s school schedules, a former Starbucks barista who had tired of starting at 5 a.m., and a 60-year-old former Molly Maid employee who said housecleaning had become too much.

All joined the bustle at an Aurora Public Schools job fair just a week before school was set to start and talked to recruiters about positions driving buses, working with preschoolers, preparing meals, or cleaning schools.

In Colorado and nationwide, acute staffing shortages have made it harder for school districts to deliver basic services. But Aurora hiring representatives were upbeat about the prospect of filling vacancies in the 39,000-student district — if not by the first day of school on Aug. 8, soon after.

Travis Brown, a lead trainer with the district’s transportation department, said interest from candidates is higher this year than last.

“Are things still lean? Yeah, they are,” he said. “But there’s definitely a change in the number of folks who are coming out. Job fairs like this would have been desolate a year ago.”

Last-minute hiring is nothing new for school districts. Many have faced shortages of special education, math, and science educators, mental health staff, and bus drivers for years. Last school year, 720 teaching positions and 570 classroom aide positions went unfilled across Colorado, according to data from the state’s annual educator shortage survey. Hundreds more jobs were filled through stopgap measures like hiring retired educators or long-term substitutes.

Cynthia Cobb, Aurora’s early childhood education director, welcomed a steady stream of candidates to her table during the first hour of Tuesday’s job fair, taking down contact information and explaining the credentials needed to work with young children. Her department had 43 positions to fill, a combination of lead teacher and classroom aide jobs.

Cobb said there are more vacancies than usual, because the district is adding 19 preschool classrooms this fall as part of the state’s new universal preschool program, which provides tuition-free classes to any 4-year-old whose family wants it.

But like Brown, she said there’s more interest from job seekers, too. That’s due in part to a wage boost that has made Aurora more competitive with neighboring districts, such as Denver and Cherry Creek. Aurora’s starting pay for preschool aides is now $20 an hour, up from $14 last year.

Noting that she received 75 applications through the job search website Indeed during the past week, she said, “It didn’t happen before.”

To sweeten the deal, Cobb also let candidates know that she has grant money that can help them pay for early childhood education classes at the Community College of Aurora — on top of free courses the state is already covering as part of an effort to develop more early childhood teachers.

Selena Canche, a mother of five, attended the fair to find something with more consistent hours than her part-time package delivery job through Amazon Flex. She hoped for work in one of the district’s cafeterias or early childhood classrooms.

“Being able to work where my kids go to school is the goal,” she said.

Renée Le Floch, the former house cleaner, left the fair with the promise of a job interview with the district’s nutrition department the next day. After years of physical work, she hoped to land something less taxing. Plus, she said, working around children is her dream.

At the booth for the district’s nutrition department — which is hiring for 50 positions — a poster advertised the starting wage at $13.80 an hour. But Bianca Mendoza, a staffing and marketing specialist for the district, quickly noticed it was out of date. The rate is now $15.26 an hour, she said.

The job is fun, said Mendoza. “You get to love on those kids, feed them, hear their stories.”

Monica Drees, the former barista, stopped by three tables at the fair, but said a nutrition services job was her top choice. It would offer flexible hours and let her capitalize on her experience in food service.

Plus, she said, Mendoza “seemed really nice.”

“I can learn how to do a job,” Drees said, “but mostly I want to like my coworkers.”

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org. Chalkbeat intern Sara Martin contributed to this report.

Colorado backtracks on full-time preschool for 11,000 kids with risk factors

2023-08-02T23:12:28+00:00

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Nikki Spasova expected her 4-year-old son to get free full-day classes through the state’s new universal preschool program since he’s still learning English.

But just two weeks before Kristian was set to start preschool, Spasova learned that wasn’t the case. Instead, the state program will cover just 15 hours of preschool, the same hours offered to Colorado children who don’t face barriers to success in school.

Colorado’s universal preschool plan called for children like Kristian to get up to 30 hours a week at no cost to their families, provided there was enough money. It turns out there isn’t.

In the final weeks before school starts, that shortfall triggered a provision in state law that tightened eligibility requirements so that only children who are low-income and have a second risk factor will receive full-day classes.

Instead of half of 4-year-olds being offered free full-time preschool, just 13% will.

Some of the affected children are learning English, like Kristian. Many more are from low-income families — and money for additional child care subsidies is limited, too. Meanwhile, the state is sticking to its plan to offer 15 tuition-free hours to all 4-year-olds, even those from well-to-do families — more hours than required by state law.

“To cut back on the ones who really need it does not feel fair,” said Jean Doolittle, the owner of Southglenn Montessori Preschool in Centennial where Kristian is enrolled. “Instead of taking a little bit from everybody, they took a lot from those who need it most.”

The decision illustrates the trade-off Colorado leaders made in designing the new preschool program, which launches this month. Many early childhood advocates cheered Colorado’s move from a preschool program that targets certain kids to one that’s open to all 4-year-olds, but as the program rolls out, some providers are concerned the universal model shortchanges children facing the toughest odds.

Four-year-old Kristian, whose native language is Bulgarian, is among nearly 11,000 Colorado children who won’t be offered tuition-free full-day preschool this fall. The news has left families and providers scrambling with only days or weeks before school starts.

At least one district — Aurora Public Schools — has decided to cover the cost of full-day preschool for families the state rejected for the extra help.

But many families will either have to come up with the extra tuition money, switch their child to a half-day program, or bow out altogether.

For Kristian’s parents, the last-minute switch means they’ll have to pay $428 a month more than they’d planned.

“We can barely make it,” said Spasova.

Preschool funding gets spread more thinly

When state officials asked voters in 2020 to approve a nicotine tax to help pay for universal preschool, they promised 10 tuition-free hours a week to any Colorado 4-year-old whose family wanted it. Last fall, they decided to offer 15. At the same time, state officials planned to provide 30 hours a week to children with the highest needs — those from low-income families, with limited English skills, with a special education plan, are homeless, or are in foster care.

The state’s online application told parents that extra hours for students with any one of the five risk factors “will be added” after their application is reviewed,

But when demand for the new program exploded, there wasn’t enough money for everything.

Dawn Odean, Colorado’s universal preschool director, said Colorado’s 2022 preschool law dictated which groups would get prioritized for preschool funding and didn’t guarantee that students with risk factors would get extra hours.

State officials expected about half of Colorado 4-year-olds — around 30,000 — to participate this year, but is on track to exceed that.

Conor Cahill, a spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis, said in an email Wednesday that sign-ups have hit 36,000.

That’s a number legislative staff worried about as far back as February, estimating it would cost $30 million more than the $322 million budgeted for universal preschool to serve all those additional children, according to a budget memo. To avoid too many signups in the first year, they recommended no extra funding for marketing universal preschool. The governor’s office used its own funds to pay for marketing and now touts that the state has surpassed its goals for enrollment in the first year.

Additionally, Cahill said the governor wants to offer 18 hours of preschool a week to all 4-year-olds by the end of his second term in 2026.

Odean, when asked how she would respond to families whose children have risk factors and who feel misled, said “that’s a hard one” and that the department is always looking at how they can give families more clarity.

“Are we getting to our most vulnerable?” she said. “I don’t think we know that at this point, but there is definitely all eyes on that consideration.”

In the Aurora district, officials expected about 1,200 universal preschool students to qualify for full-day funding because they have a risk factor, but only around 300 met the new criteria. Cynthia Cobb, Aurora’s early childhood education director, said the district will cover the cost of full-day classes for families the state rejected for extra hours.

“I’m grateful that the district has made the commitment that at this point we’re not changing any of their programming.”

Like other providers, she said the state application wasn’t clear. Since it indicated that families would get extra preschool hours if they had one risk factor, some families simply checked a single box even if they had multiple risk factors.

“So they may have said we speak another language at home and I’m done, I’ve got my risk factor,” said Cobb.

A pandemic baby faces language struggles

When the pandemic hit, Kristian had just turned one. He ended up spending lots of time with his parents on empty playgrounds or family hikes, but little time with people who might have exposed him to conversational English, Spasova said.

When he started at Doolittle’s home-based child care program a couple years ago, he knew two English words: “OK” and “hi.” Although he was shy, he started making big strides with English after about six months.

But his English still needs work and Spasova said she doesn’t feel confident enough to do it on her own.

“His head is jumbled. He will speak half a sentence in English and half a sentence in Bulgarian,” Spasova said. “It’s imperative for him to go to preschool so he can go to kindergarten next year and he will actually know some English.”

Kristian’s first day of universal preschool at Doolittle’s home was Monday. He’s among five children there who are participating in the state-funded program this year and one of two with a state-recognized risk factor.

Doolittle said the other family whose child has a risk factor opted for half-day preschool, but not Kristian’s family.

“That language obstacle is still humongous,” she said. “Him being here more hours is a huge benefit to him.”

Low-income families could lose out

Most of the 4-year-olds who have a single risk factor — and won’t qualify for 30 free hours of preschool a week — come from families considered low-income.

Michelle Dalbotten, who heads Step by Step, a Northglenn child care center, said some of her families fall into that category and recently found out their kids will only get 15 tuition-free hours a week.

“That’s where they may feel duped,” she said.

Under the universal preschool program, families qualify as low-income if they make less than 270% of the federal poverty level — about $81,000 for a family of four. That threshold means there’s nothing distinguishing very low-income families from families on the cusp of middle income.

Odean, from the Department of Early Childhood, said officials first need to see which preschoolers show up this fall, and then can use that data to make tweaks for next year.

She said the state officials could consider lowering the income threshold or establishing multiple tiers within the low-income category.

Melissa Mares, director of early childhood initiatives for the Colorado Children’s Campaign, said she’s hopeful that low-income families who aren’t offered full-day preschool through the universal program, may be able to use state child care subsidies or other funding sources to get the extra hours they need.

The subsidy application is separate from the universal preschool application this year, but the state plans to combine them in the future, she noted.

“What we’re hearing from families is they want it to be easy,” she said.

But Heather O’Hayre, Larimer County’s director of human services, worries that the subsidy program can’t compensate for the shortfall in the universal preschool budget — especially once federal COVID stimulus money runs out in 2024.

Already, there’s only enough money to provide child care subsidies to about 10% of eligible children, she said.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Letter informing parents their children won’t get tuition-free full-day preschool

Gov. Whitmer creates new Michigan agency for early childhood through post-secondary education

2023-07-12T20:47:59+00:00

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer established a new state agency Wednesday to focus on improving educational outcomes for students in preschool through postsecondary programs.

The Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, or MiLEAP, will aim to help families access affordable child care, enroll kids in free pre-K, connect kids with before- and after-school activities, teach students about career options, and create paths for no-cost and affordable higher education in fields that are in demand.

The governor’s executive order creating the new agency transfers the offices and functions of six existing state offices. The new department will work with the Michigan Department of Education and the elected State Board of Education, according to Whitmer’s office.

“For too long, we have thought of education as K-12, but we know that’s not good enough,” Whitmer said in a prepared statement. “I’m establishing MiLEAP today because we need to get every kid started early, in pre-K, so they succeed in kindergarten, have paths after graduation to get higher education tuition-free, and forge strong partnerships with our employers so they can get a good-paying, high-skill, and in-demand job.”

Few specifics are known about how the department would operate, how it would be funded, and whether it would diminish the role of the Michigan Department of Education, whose leader is selected by the state board. One Republican member of the state board says she is exploring whether Whitmer’s move is legal, and two Democratic members expressed concern it would add a layer of bureaucracy.

Key functions move out of Michigan Department of Education

The department will be made up of three offices: early childhood education, higher education, and education partnerships. It will be led by a state-appointed director.

“We will have more on the director selection in the future,” said Robert Leddy, director of communications for the governor’s office.

The executive order transfers the Office of Great Start, which serves the educational needs of children up to age 8, from the Michigan Department of Education to the new agency.

State Superintendent Michael Rice, who heads the MDE, said he was assured the transfer would carry on his department’s commitments, such as the state-funded preschool program.

The order also moves the Governor’s Educator Advisory Council and the Michigan PreK-12 Literacy Commission from the purview of the MDE to MiLEAP.

Functions of the Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, and Labor and Economic Opportunity departments, the student aid office, and the Office of Rural Development will also move to the new agency.

Nikki Snyder, one of two Republicans on the eight-member State Board of Education, said she learned of the new department Wednesday and was not contacted by the governor’s office about it.

“The systems and structures providing these services are already in place and need more accountability,” said Snyder, who is running for U.S. Senate. “We don’t need more centralized government with less accountability.”

Some Democrats on the board also expressed skepticism about the new agency.

“We must ensure that MiLEAP is not just another bureaucratic entity but a truly effective organization that addresses the longstanding issues in our education system,” said a joint statement from board member Mitchell Robinson and board President Pamela Pugh, who is also a U.S. Senate candidate.

“Years of underfunding have had a detrimental impact on our schools, and while MiLEAP presents an opportunity to coordinate resources and create a clear vision, we must ensure that the necessary investments and equitable funding follow. Our children deserve access to quality education, regardless of their zip code or background,” they said.

Mike Flanagan, who served as state superintendent from 2005 to 2015, said Whitmer’s move to create the Office of Higher Education within the new agency will likely lead to more funding for post-secondary initiatives.

“I think the governor did exactly the right thing on the college part,” he said. “If I were governor, I probably would have left early childhood where it was. But I trust her judgment.”

Previous Michigan governors have also tried to reorganize the way state agencies manage educational programs and responsibilities. Republican Gov. John Engler moved school assessments out of the MDE, and his successor, Democrat Jennifer Granholm, reversed that decision. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder moved the school reform office out of the MDE only to reverse the decision two years later.

Flanagan, who served after the changes to the department made by Engler, said the transfers made to Whitmer’s new agency are “very different.”

“This was thoughtfully done,” the former state superintendent said of the new changes to MDE. “The governor left the basic K-12 functions to the department. Engler just blew up the department.”

Rick Snyder also created the 21st Century Education Commission, which considered changing the way state education policymakers are selected.

Bob McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan which represents 123 Southeast Michigan school districts, said superintendents are waiting to see how the department will operate.

“We’re optimistic about this, and I think our superintendents just want to make sure they have a seat at the table as these things are being discussed and that it works as well as it can,” he said in an interview.

How will MiLEAP’s progress be measured?

MiLEAP’s overall goals will be to add capacity to early learning, to have every student in the state eventually earn a skill certificate or degree after high school, and to prioritize strategic state partnerships.

Whitmer has made access to early childhood education and increasing the number of people with postsecondary degrees or certificates two top priorities.

The new department also touches on a years-long effort by advocates to boost after-school programming in the state.

“MiLEAP will get this done by establishing clear metrics for lifelong learning, collaborating with cross-sector leaders at the local, regional, and state level, and developing a shared action plan for everyone to work towards,” Leddy said.

Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, which represents charter schools, said Whitmer’s decision Wednesday will be considered a success “if people recognize better outcomes” from the state programs being transferred to the new agency.

Matt Gillard, president and CEO of nonprofit Michigan’s Children, said his organization is optimistic about the change.

“I know we’ve struggled under our current system in some of these areas,” he said. “This signals a commitment from the Whitmer administration to rethinking things and becoming innovative and progressive in our approach to some of these issues.”

The cost of the department’s programming is built into the state budget, and the agency will work with the Legislature to fund operational needs, said Leddy.

It will use state and federal funding, including $50 million in next year’s budget to provide before- and after-school programs, Leddy added.

Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc., a nonprofit education think tank, praised Whitmer’s focus on before- and after-school programming and called the creation of the agency a “big step in the right direction.”

Whitmer has set a goal of having 60% of working age adults with a college degree or skills certificate by 2030.

Asked whether the new structure would lead to more partisan education policy decisions, Glazer said “the advantages of having a department which is focused on improving education outcomes for all Michigan kids from birth to college to me outweighs the potential that maybe it gets caught up in the polarization we have everyplace else.”

Lawmakers recently approved budgets that expand eligibility for the state’s free community college program, Michigan Reconnect, and its free pre-K program, Great Start Readiness.

Molly Macek, director of education policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said she wants to see the new agency collect more data to measure if these programs are worthwhile and achieving their goals.

Dan Hurley, CEO of the Michigan Association of State Universities, said he hopes creating a new office of higher education within the new department will increase awareness and use of the Michigan Achievement Scholarship.

The scholarship, created in 2022, provides funds for Michigan high school graduates to attend community colleges, independent nonprofit colleges or public four-year universities in Michigan.

Hurley said the new department could lead to increased college affordability, college enrollment and “ultimately boost attainment levels.”

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Isabel Lohman is a reporter for Bridge Michigan covering preK-12 and higher education. Contact Isabel at ilohman@bridgemi.com.

Salary disparity: Teachers, directors in NYC’s free pre-K program push for more money

2023-06-28T21:23:17+00:00

In her own words, Joanne Derwin was “not a runner.”

Then last year, as Derwin embarked on her annual quest to raise money for the preschool she oversees in Brooklyn’s Windsor Terrace neighborhood, a parent persuaded her to train for the Brooklyn Half Marathon with a large group. Since then, they’ve used the race to raise tens of thousands of dollars that are crucial, in part, for covering teacher salaries.

Derwin’s center is one of hundreds that contract with New York City for its free prekindergarten programs, expected to serve roughly 63,000 3- and 4-year-olds this fall. But these centers — which have offered seats to about 60% of the children in the city’s program — have faced a long-standing issue that is gaining renewed attention: Their city funding covers the salaries for their veteran teachers at the same rate as new teachers in city-run public schools. That makes it tough to retain staff, providers say, unless directors like Derwin find a way to close the salary gap.

“We literally have to run the Brooklyn Half Marathon to be able to have our program,” Derwin said.

Boosting wages for teachers, directors and other support staff will be a central sticking point in upcoming contract negotiations between the city and unions who represent community-based preschool staffers, with the hope that the city extends benefits to non-unionized staffers, too.

On the campaign trail, Mayor Eric Adams said he wanted to pay these teachers for their years of experience, and he promised a path to salary parity within two years of his first term.

“It’s almost humiliating what we are paying these professionals,” he said at the time.

Whether he follows through on those promises remains uncertain. Spokespeople for City Hall referred Chalkbeat to the city’s labor relations office, which did not immediately respond for comment.

The brewing battle comes four years after the city boosted teacher pay in community-based programs to match their public-school counterparts, eventually including non-unionized employees, in what was heralded as a huge achievement. Pay grew to $61,070 by 2021 for teachers with bachelor’s degrees and $68,652 for those with master’s degrees, with a one-time 2.75% raise for other staff.

That agreement, however, didn’t pay teachers according to their years of experience, nor did it address salary parity for directors or other support staff, such as assistant teachers or custodians — all issues that unions and providers plan to advocate for.

The negotiations will happen against the backdrop of a chaotic year for the city’s early childhood education system, including late payments to providers and a controversial decision by Adams to not expand preschool seats for 3-year-olds. The City Council has called for $46 million to address pay parity issues. It’s unclear if that will meet the unions’ demands, as the Day Care Council said it does not yet have cost estimates.

Preschool workers eye contract set by teachers union

Wage increases could make the difference between keeping workers or losing them in an industry that’s already burned out from the pandemic, said Nora Moran, director of policy and advocacy at United Neighborhood Houses, which represents many providers.

Community-based preschool programs, like many industries, have faced hiring shortages since COVID, leaving them scrambling to find staff, Moran said. Programs are not just struggling to hold onto teachers; directors are also leaving. Many of these employees work longer hours and throughout the summer.

Acknowledging a need for better pay, Gov. Kathy Hochul recently announced up to $3,000 in retention bonuses for 150,000 childcare workers, with unused federal stimulus dollars.

Without better pay, Moran said providers will be in a “dire situation,” ultimately impacting families who need preschool but can’t afford private programs.

“That sounds dramatic, but it’s true,” Moran said. “The compensation has become such a sticking point for folks.”

DC 37, which represents 7,900 early childhood workers, and the Day Care Council, which represents providers, are expected to begin negotiations with the city once their contract expires this fall. DC 37 also represents workers at federally funded Head Start programs, whose contract expired last January.

Separately, the city’s Council for Supervisors and Administrators, or CSA, is expected to restart their push to raise salaries for the 180 community-based preschool directors they represent. Pressure will likely mount in July, when the union begins court proceedings in a lawsuit that alleges the city is discriminating against community-based preschool directors, who are largely women of color, by not paying them at the same rate as directors of city-run sites.

Unions will be looking to the tentative contract deal reached between the city and the United Federation of Teachers, or UFT, which represents educators and other workers inside of public schools. Under that tentative agreement, starting salaries for new teachers with bachelor’s degrees will jump from $61,070 to $72,349 by November 2027.

Pay gap angers teachers and other support staff

Veteran teachers in New York City’s community-run preschool programs can make 53% of their counterparts with similar years of service in public schools, according to the Day Care Council.

To close such gaps, Derwin’s school, called One World Project, relies on multiple fundraising events, as well as income from their other programs that charge tuition, such as after school.

Derwin said she’s proud to pay her teaching staff as well as teachers who are covered by the teachers union. But that also means her teachers must receive raises annually as they gain more experience and with new contracts, leaving Derwin to close a larger gap every year without any additional help from the city.

“Every year, it’s a more precarious situation for us,” Derwin said.

About 10 miles east at the Howard Beach Judea Center Preschool in Queens, site director Lisa Pearlman-Mason said they struggle annually with enrollment, leading to tight budgets. Their two teachers each make just under $69,000 annually, or the same as a first-year teacher in public schools, as required by the 2019 agreement, even though one has about 15 years of experience and the other about 10.

They host an annual fundraiser, but the proceeds aren’t enough to cover salary bumps. (Last year, they used the money to buy an outdoor toy for their playground.)

Their teaching assistants make roughly $25,000 a year. The starting salary for the comparable title of a paraprofessional will be $34,257 by 2027, according to the tentative teachers union agreement.

“I don’t get to keep them for more than a couple of years because they realize what’s going on and they leave,” Pearlman-Mason said.

Salary disparity for directors pushes them out

Separate from teachers, the CSA is hoping to see pay boosted for about 180 directors of community-run preschools over a three-year period, for a total cost of $16.7 million, according to union officials.

Pre-K directors with master’s degrees at city-run programs make at least $133,375 with one year of experience, according to CSA. Under the expired contract for directors at private programs that are publicly funded, however, the city is only required to pay $63,287 to directors with master’s degrees.

Henry Rubio, the CSA’s president, said directors will sometimes take other jobs to make ends meet, or their centers might raise money to pay staff more. Still, the union sees directors leave their jobs “on a weekly basis” for better paying positions, including within the education department.

The union’s plea for raises traces back to at least 2019. At the time, when New York City agreed to boost teacher pay under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, officials promised to negotiate a similar “path to parity” for preschool directors, Rubio said. But since then, he said, the city has declined to do so.

Negotiations over a new contract stalled in 2021. That December, CSA filed its discrimination lawsuit, which states that community-run programs are overseen by directors who are 92% women of color, compared with the 31% at city-run sites who are Black or Latino.

“I think this is an opportunity for the mayor to really right a stark wrong here,” Rubio said. “For Black and brown women who have been dedicating their lives to the city, I think it’s an opportune time for both the City Council and the mayor to make a statement about his values.”

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City public schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Dolly Parton sending free books to all Illinois kids 5 and under

2023-06-14T21:30:00+00:00

The state is partnering with music icon Dolly Parton to help get more books in the hands of young kids.

The legendary country singer and philanthropist just inked a $1.6 million deal between the state and her reading program, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

The program will mail “free, high-quality books” to Illinois children from birth to 5 years old, no matter their family’s income. Imagination Library has already partnered with a few cities and school districts around the state, but the deal made with Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration will take the program state-wide.

Pritzker said in a statement the partnership will “bring Dolly to every doorstep.”

“As a longtime early childhood advocate, I’m incredibly excited for what’s to come,” Pritzker said in the statement. “These are some of the most crucial years for learning of a person’s lifetime, and this initiative will connect low-income families to resources their children will need for lifelong success.”

The Imagination Library was founded by Parton in 1995 and is now under the wing of her Dollywood Foundation, according to the news release. Parton started out giving books to kids in Sevier County, Tennessee, where she grew up. But the program took off and is now offered in five countries: the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland.

One in 10 children in the United States under the age of five are enrolled in Parton’s book program, according to her foundation. A child enrolled in the program at birth could receive 60 free books by the time they turn 6, according to the Dollywood Foundation.

The program offers braille and bilingual books and negotiates the wholesale price of the books while state and education partners handle the cost of shipping.

The Imagination Library has increased kindergarten readiness in children by 29 percent, according to the news release.

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton joined Pritzker Tuesday at a school in downstate Cahokia to announce the program and other investments in early childhood education.

“Thanks to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, children in every corner of Illinois can receive free books mailed directly to their home,” Stratton said in the statement. “I applaud early childhood advocates like Dolly Parton, who are helping our children find joy in reading and creating future generations of avid readers.”

This story originally appeared in Block Club Chicago.

NYC failed to provide full services to 9,800 preschool children with disabilities last year: report

2023-06-06T09:30:00+00:00

More than one-third of New York City’s preschool children with disabilities did not receive all of the extra support they’re entitled to in the last school year, according to a report released Tuesday morning.

The report, by advocacy organization Advocates for Children New York, analyzes the most recently available city data for the 2021-22 school year. The figure represents an increase from the 2020-21 school year, when 30% of children, or about 7,800, didn’t receive all of their required services.

The data means that a child may have received some of their required speech therapy, for example, but no required physical therapy — services that are spelled out in an individualized education program, or IEP.

Among the 9,800 children — or close to 37% — who didn’t receive all of their required services:

About 6,500 children who required speech therapy — or about a quarter of children who needed monolingual speech therapy and a third of children who required bilingual services.
Nearly 28%, or 5,300 children, who required occupational therapy.
About 2,000 children, or nearly 26%, who needed physical therapy.

The report showcases a yearslong problem with the city’s public preschool system, which serves 3- and 4-year-olds: Programs struggle to provide all children with the services they need, as they are legally required to do. Young children’s access to these services might be more crucial now, since some of these students may have missed out on necessary services as infants and toddlers early in the pandemic, like tens of thousands of kids nationally.

The greatest disparity in who received services was based on language: Sixty-nine percent of children who required only English instruction received their services, versus 53.5% of those who needed to be taught in another language.

The racial and socioeconomic disparities were smaller. While 69% of white students fully received services, the same was true for 67% of Hispanic children, 65.5% of Black children, and 62% of Asian children. Sixty-seven percent of permanently housed students received services, versus 61% of homeless children.

The city’s data might actually “significantly” underreport the problem, the report said. The education department considers a child “fully served” if they received at least one session of all of their required services, the report said.

“A child whose occupational therapist quits in November and is never replaced, or a preschooler who waits six months for mandated speech therapy to begin because the DOE is unable to find a provider, is not fully served from the perspective of their parents and teachers, but they are left out of the counts above,” the report said.

In December, Mayor Eric Adams vowed to open hundreds of additional seats for preschool children with disabilities to ensure that all children get the seats that they’re entitled to. Advocates have praised that commitment, but it already is being tested. While the city has opened 700 new seats this school year for students with more challenging disabilities, about 300 preschoolers are still waiting for a spot, the report noted.

Having access to seats is a perennial issue. Last year, just over 1,000 preschool children who required a small special education class did not have access to those seats by the end of last school year, according to the report.

“We agree with the concerns of our parents and advocates that for far too long students with disabilities were excluded from programming and services,” Nicole Brownstein, a spokesperson for the city’s education department, said in a statement. “This administration is committed to righting this wrong.”

But the city’s commitment to open more seats doesn’t address the ongoing shortage of staff who can provide extra required services for these children, one significant reason why children are missing out on services, said Betty Baez Melo, director of the Early Childhood Education Project at Advocates For Children. The city contracts with outside organizations to provide many of these services, so Advocates For Children is calling on Adams to spend another $50 million to increase pay for those service providers and hire their own staffers.

Brownstein noted that the education department has expanded its own teams who provide services to preschool children, including hiring an additional 24 speech therapists, 23 occupational itinerant therapists, and 12 physical therapists.

The $50 million request from Advocates For Children would also go toward speeding up evaluations for children, another weak area the report cited. Nearly 16% of children, or 1,974, who were eligible for preschool special education services waited more than 60 days — the legal deadline — for a meeting to determine what extra services they should receive, according to the organization. That’s a similar rate to last school year.

Over the last three years, the education department has opened 21 Preschool Regional Assessment (PRAC) teams, which provide evaluations in addition to state-approved agencies that the city contracts with. This school year, staffers on PRAC teams had the option of working overtime, allowing more students to get evaluated — something they plan to do again next school year, officials said.

Still, education department officials said there are not enough agencies to meet the evaluation needs of preschool students, as more children have been referred for services since the pandemic. They plan to work with city, state, and federal government officials to ensure there’s enough funding to link students with necessary services.

While data for this school year is not yet available, the organization reported that it’s received many calls from families who have struggled to access services for their young children. One of those calls was from Terese, a mother in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn who asked to use her first name only for privacy reasons.

Her 4-year-old son required the help of a special education itinerant teacher, or an SEIT, who helps children like hers with disabilities inside of a general education preschool class. But in February, that teacher left her son’s preschool with no replacement.

Terese spent a month emailing the main special education contact in her district about a replacement teacher with no response, even taking days off work to deal with the issue, she said. Meanwhile, her son was talking less at home.

“The teacher started reporting to me that he was not communicating in the classroom,” Terese said.

Terese’s problem was not unique. According to the report, roughly 1,300 preschoolers, or nearly one in five children did not have an SEIT all last school year, even though their IEP required one.

Eventually Terese contacted Advocates For Children, which advised her to lodge a complaint through 311. After that, a special education official with her district responded, blaming the lack of a teacher on a staffing shortage. By mid-May, her son once again had an SEIT, she said.

“I felt all alone,” Terese said. “The DOE just left me to fend for myself with my child with special needs.”

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City public schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Detroit’s student enrollment strategy meets board scrutiny in light of state population decline

2023-06-02T21:04:08+00:00

Detroit schools finance committee members expressed concern Friday that recent city and state population declines will invalidate the district’s strategies for beefing up enrollment, which rely heavily on expanding preschool programs for the city’s young families.

“I am a touch more pessimistic about student enrollment,” said board member Sonya Mays at the Detroit Public Schools Community District finance committee meeting. “And my viewpoint is almost entirely rooted in what is going on with the greater Detroit population and less specific to what’s happening with the district’s attempts to increase enrollment.”

“I don’t see any sign that Detroit’s population is going to do anything other than continue to decline on a sort of relatively predictable flow.”

Much discussion has circulated around Michigan’s population losses in recent weeks as local and state leaders have drawn up potential solutions and strategies to mitigate further declines. Over the past two years, the state has seen a decline in residents, in addition to lower birth rates. DPSCD’s current enrollment is hovering around 48,000 students, down from 51,000 students prepandemic.

Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau found Detroit lost roughly 8,000 residents from 2021 to 2022 – a figure Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has publicly contested, suggesting the city’s population has been undercounted.

At the Mackinac Policy Conference this week, Duggan urged state legislators to reform Detroit’s property tax system to drive growth in Michigan’s largest city, which has shrunk in population over the past seven decades since its peak of 1.8 million people in 1950. Simultaneously, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a statewide council to develop strategies to reverse Michigan’s population woes.

A recent poll from the Gallup Center on Black Voices listed a lack of educational opportunities and safety as some of the main reasons Detroiters have left.

“If you were faced with the prospect of bleeding a couple hundred students year after year, what would you do now to get in front of that?” Mays asked DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti.

DPSCD plans to spend less money next year on enrollment strategies due to budget restraints. Instead, it will use a smaller budget to market specific schools with available seats and continue to emphasize canvassing through school employees and families.

Among its other strategies, Vitti pointed to the district’s facility master plan, which prioritized facility upgrades at schools with projected neighborhood resident increases, as well as phasing out schools with low student enrollment. Moving forward, he noted, the district would determine whether its smallest high schools are needed in certain neighborhoods.

“We’ve given them six years to grow in enrollment,” he said. “Some of them are definitely doing well, from an improvement of academics and climate culture. But that’s the other area that I would look at is…how many high schools do we really need?”

The district, Vitti said, is looking to increase enrollment over time by expanding pre-kindergarten programs across the city. As part of its facility master plan, the district will house those programs at vacant or underutilized school buildings.

“There are pockets of the city with younger families that are looking for options. And the pre-K option, I think, is a strong one versus others in the city because you have certified teachers,” he said. “That’s just something that we have to market more and then if they have a positive experience in pre-K, I think it’s likely that they’ll stay (for kindergarten).”

Board member Misha Stallworth West suggested district officials “err on the side of caution” when projecting future enrollment gains from pre-K expansion.

“Birth rates are down statewide,” Stallworth West said. “So even trying to capture students from other communities in early ed is tricky.”

Vitti said the district will annually monitor its preschool expansion “over the next three to four years” to determine if actual enrollment numbers match projections, and if they see high reenrollment rates from pre-K to kindergarten. DPSCD’s K-12 enrollment is projected to remain constant next year, according to Vitti, with a potential bump of 335 pre-kindergarten students.

“What I also don’t want to do is just be a provider of pre-K for middle class and upper middle class families,” he said, adding that one of his main concerns is that those families may wind up using the district’s pre-K programs, only to enroll their children in kindergarten outside of DPSCD.

District updates board on status of laid-off employees in the proposed budget

The finance committee also OK’d adding to the agenda for the next full board meeting an amendment to this year’s budget, as well as the district’s proposed budget for the 2023-24 school year. The full board meets again on June 13.

Community information meetings will be held virtually and in person next week to share the details of next year’s budget as well as answer questions from community members.

Vitti estimated that roughly 90% of school culture facilitators and kindergarten paraprofessionals have moved into alternate positions. Under the district’s proposal, those employees, in addition to college transition advisors and administrators at small schools, could be laid off as the district moves to balance its budget following the end of COVID relief funding.

The district, however, has said that some employee groups could still apply for other positions at equal or similar wages. For example, school culture facilitators and paraeducators could apply for positions as cafeteria workers, day-to-day substitutes, or special ed paraprofessionals, among other roles.

The committee approved adding to the full board agenda an amendment to the district’s lease agreement with Marygrove Conservancy, which would extend the district’s lease to 2029 and expand the lease space for its upcoming sixth- to eighth-grade classes. Since 2019, the district has used the conservancy’s Liberal Arts Building to house high school students at the School of Marygrove.

Ethan Bakuli is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering Detroit Public Schools Community District. Contact Ethan at ebakuli@chalkbeat.org.

Child care workers could receive up to $3,000 in bonuses, under new state retention program

2023-05-31T22:55:36+00:00

New York’s child care workers could soon receive up to $3,000 in bonuses under a new program Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled on Wednesday.

The state is earmarking $500 million in underutilized federal funds for child care workforce retention grants to help organizations keep staff and attract new workers. The goal is to support roughly 150,000 child care workers with bonuses ranging from $2,300 to $3,000, in addition to bolstering recruitment efforts, according to state officials.

Applications will open on July 13. (State officials are creating an online portal where applications can be submitted.)

Hochul hopes the bonuses can help address the “child care deserts” that became even more prevalent during the pandemic, with the closure of 2,000 child care programs and 20,000 slots statewide.

“This is happening in communities all over our state,” she said during a press conference at a Brooklyn child care center.

The lack of options for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers has affected parents nationwide, as tens of thousands of child care workers left for careers with better pay and in some cases lower stress. In New York City, advocates have pushed for higher wages for child care workers, as well as improving outreach to families so they know where to find spots for their kids.

Some in the child care sector worry that the bonuses won’t provide a sustainable solution for an issue that runs much deeper: The low wages in the child care sector make it hard for many staffers — largely women of color — to stay afloat.

Nora Moran, director of policy and advocacy at United Neighborhood Houses, said she was pleased to see Hochul and other state officials providing child care workers with some financial support.

“We hope these grants are easy to access, as that will help ensure that funds actually get to providers in a timely manner,” she said in an email. “However, the State does need a plan to address overall wages and not simply offer bonus payments. Child care workers are often paid low wages, and one time bonuses will not help ensure that these workers are paid a sustainable, living wage.”

Gregory Brender, chief policy and innovation officer at the Day Care Council of New York, also praised the grants, but urged the city and state to enact further measures to close gaps between community-based early childhood education staff and their public school counterparts.

Veteran certified prekindergarten teachers at community-based organizations can earn just 53% of their counterpart’s salary at a public school’s pre-K program, he said. An assistant teacher could sacrifice more than $235,000 over a 25-year career at a community-based organization.

This year, New York City’s free prekindergarten program run by community organizations has been rife with problems related to delayed payments, and is also reeling from declining enrollment. The city’s 3-K program has about 16,000 unfilled seats, according to Adams administration officials. Many City Council members blame the lack of outreach for that. This month, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and other elected officials called for changes to 3-K and pre-K programs, criticizing Mayor Eric Adams’ handling of the city’s early childhood education system.

The governor announced the retention program and other child care investments during a visit to New York City-based child care provider Vivvi, which operates seven campuses for children 5 and younger.

“Oftentimes, people think about child care deserts as being somewhere else,” said Charles Bonello, CEO of Vivvi. “But the truth is that New York has one of the most significant child care supply-and-demand imbalances in the country.”

He noted that families can spend more on child care than they do on housing, health care, food, or college. Monthly tuition at Vivvi ranges from $1,800 for two days a week to $3,600 for five days, according to a sponsored post run on the Brooklyn Bridge Parents website.

“Too often, working parents — especially mothers — are forced to make heartbreaking decisions to downshift or leave their careers altogether,” Bonello said.

Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter covering New York City. Contact him at jshen-berro@chalkbeat.org.

Illinois passes 2024 budget with increased funding for K-12, early childhood education

2023-05-27T15:52:57+00:00

Early Saturday morning, Illinois lawmakers passed the 2024 budget with increases in funding for K-12 public schools, early childhood education, and college-bound students. The House pass the budget with a vote of 73 to 38.

State legislators passed the $50.6 billion budget with a $570 million increase in K-12 spending, $250 million more for early childhood education, and over $100 million to support students heading to college and those who want to become teachers. The 2024 overall Illinois State Board of Education budget will be $10.3 billion, a 6.2% increase over last year’s $9.7 billion budget.

The budget looks similar to the proposal that Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced during his State of the State address in February. The budget leaves out the tax-credit scholarship known as Invest In Kids, which Pritzker supported during his re-election campaign, and trims back funding the governor requested for early education facilities.

Early childhood education gets a boost

Smart Start Illinois, announced by Pritzker in February, will invest $250 million in early childhood education in the 4-year initiative’s first year, and that funding was also approved by lawmakers.

Of that $250 million increase, the state’s Department of Human Services early intervention program, which supports young children with disabilities, will receive an increase of $40 million. The Child Care Assistance Program, which helps low-income families access child care and early childhood education, will get an additional $70 million, and the home-visiting program that supports pregnant people and families with children between birth and 5 years old, will receive an additional $5 million.

The state board’s early childhood block grant, which supports establishing early childhood education programs, gets an additional $75 million.

“This budget makes transformative investments in the children and families of Illinois while building on our record of fiscal responsibility,” Pritzker said Friday in a statement.

Latino Policy Forum senior education policy analyst Rosario Hernandez said in a statement that the group applauds the general assembly for creating a budget that adds more funding for early childhood programming.

“We are especially excited about the $75 million increase to the Early Childhood Block Grant that will expand preschool access throughout the state, which stands to benefit the fastest growing group of students in Illinois: English Learners,” said Hernandez. “Recent research from the University of Chicago demonstratively shows that when English Learners have access to full-day bilingual preschool beginning at age three it yields positive outcomes in third grade.”

K-12 gets $350 million for funding formula

The state board’s evidence-based funding formula, which distributes money to K-12 public schools, received an increase of $350 million.

Education advocates had wanted lawmakers to give an additional $550 million to school districts under the state’s evidence-based funding formula, but that didn’t happen this year. They say more money is needed to put the state on track to fully fund schools by 2027 — which was the targeted timeline when the formula was created in 2017.

Rep. William “Will” Davis, a Democrat who represents suburbs south of Chicago, filed a bill that would have required the state to increase the minimum for evidence-based funding from $350 million to $550 million. But Davis’s bill did not move out of the House rules committee.

The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a nonpartisan budget watchdog and one of the key architects of the formula, found in March that the evidence-based funding formula is working as intended. Over the past five years, funding for public schools has increased by $1.6 billion with 99% going to historically underfunded districts, closing the gap between wealthier and underfunded districts.

The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability also agrees with advocates that the formula is severely underfunded and needs more than $350 million added annually.

Center Executive Director Ralph Martire said that there should have been at least $550 million put towards the evidence-based funding after 2020, when nothing was added.

“It will take them until 2038 to fully fund the evidence-based model. So we lose another generation-and-a-half of kids to an underfunded system, which is really unfortunate,” Martire said in an interview with Chalkbeat. “It would have been nice if the state could have made an additional investment to shorten this period of time and get the educational system the resources it needs to educate students.”

The state board will also receive $45 million for the first year of a three-year pilot program to help school districts that have a large number of teacher vacancies.

Funding to support students in higher education

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission’s Minority Teachers of Illinois Scholarship, which provides scholarships to students of color and bilingual students who want to become educators, received an increase of $3.8 million instead of the $2.8 million increase proposed by Pritzker earlier this year. The program has grown to $8 million this year.

Funding for the commission’s Monetary Award Program, a grant program that provides funding to students from low-income families for college, received an increase of $100 million and the annual budget for the 2024 fiscal year will be $701 million.

Invest In Kids not in budget

Excluded from the budget this year is the controversial Invest In Kids program, a tax-credit scholarship that provides financial assistance to students from low-income households to attend a private school and makes available a tax credit for individuals who donate to the program. Public school advocates pushed lawmakers to not include it in the budget this year.

Illinois Families for Public Schools was a key opponent to the program and asked lawmakers to allow it to sunset. Cassie Creswell, the group’s director, said that the organization is happy to see the private school choice program is not in the budget and hopes that it will end soon.

“We shouldn’t be handing over public dollars to very weakly or completely unsupervised private schools that are discriminating and teaching low-quality curriculum,” said Creswell. “And there’s no evidence that they’re being helpful because there’s no data yet on the schools and we are finishing the fifth school year.”

While it is not included in this year’s budget, Invest in Kids could be considered later in the year. A spokesperson for Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch previously said that lawmakers could approve an extension during fall’s veto session.

Samantha Smylie is the state education reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering school districts across the state, legislation, special education, and the state board of education. Contact Samantha at ssmylie@chalkbeat.org.

Many young kids missed early special ed services due to COVID, compounding work for schools

2023-05-24T23:46:37+00:00

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Tens of thousands of young children with developmental delays went without critical services early in the pandemic, a new report finds, suggesting many preschools and elementary schools are now serving students with greater needs.

Federal officials characterized the report’s findings as “disturbing” though not unexpected, given the disruptions COVID caused to places that typically refer children for these services, such as doctor’s offices, social service agencies, and child care programs.

Nationally, 77,000 fewer 3- and 4-year-olds received early childhood special education services in fall 2020, representing a steep 16% drop from the prior year, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. Similarly, 63,000 fewer infants and toddlers received early intervention services during that time, a 15% decline.

The latest federal data from fall 2021 point to a rebound among children 3 and under getting early intervention and special education services, though the share of 4-year-olds who got that extra support dropped further.

Taken together, it’s a worrying indicator that many children who missed crucial services are entering school further behind in their skills — leaving already stressed early childhood and elementary educators to fill in the gaps.

“We know that there’s a very good likelihood that those children are going to show up either on the first day of preschool or on the first day of kindergarten needing more services than they otherwise would have needed,” said Katherine Neas, a deputy assistant secretary for the federal education department who helps oversee special education. “We really encourage states to look at what additional supports they can and should give students with disabilities.”

Early intervention services are provided to infants and toddlers who have developmental delays or are likely to develop them due to a physical or medical condition. In some states, kids also qualify if they’re at risk of a delay due to factors like premature birth, low birth weight, prenatal drug exposure, or an infection.

Children aged 3 to 5 with certain disabilities are eligible for early childhood special education. A little less than half of kids who get these services have a developmental delay, while just over a third have a speech or language disability. Another 1 in 10 have autism.

Services can include things like physical therapy, speech therapy, counseling, or sign language. Families also get important training and support that can make it easier for them to navigate the K-12 system. Getting help to kids early matters a lot: It can help improve school readiness and academic outcomes and reduce the need for special education later.

Of particular concern, the report’s authors said, was the “striking” 23% drop in Black children who received early childhood special education services, as those students were already much less likely than their peers to get this kind of extra help. By comparison, 18% fewer white children and 3% fewer Hispanic and Asian American children were placed in early childhood special education.

Meanwhile, Asian American infants and toddlers saw the biggest dip in early intervention services — down 21% — though the declines for the youngest children were more similar across race and ethnicity than they were for the older children.

Steven Barnett, a Rutgers professor who co-authored the report, said those racial disparities “are not just unfair, they’re harmful.”

“Early intervention and early childhood special education are vital supports for younger children with special needs and their families,” he said.

Many school districts across the country also struggled to identify K-12 students with disabilities during the pandemic, as some children learned remotely and school staff scrambled to process a backlog of evaluations.

There is some evidence that students who were not identified during this time were missed permanently. A team of researchers released a working paper this week analyzing data from Michigan schools that found significant dips in students being identified for special education in the early elementary grades during the 2020-21 school year, but not enough of a rebound the following year to suggest schools had caught many of the children who fell through the cracks earlier.

Kalyn Belsha is a national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org.

Full-day kindergarten will be required in Illinois public schools by 2027 under bill headed to governor’s desk

2023-05-23T22:07:52+00:00

Every public school in Illinois could have full-day kindergarten by 2027, thanks to a bill passed on Friday. The bill passed 84-24 in a final house vote and is heading to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk.

Under HB 2396, school districts around the state will have to offer full-day kindergarten to families with children between 4- and 6-years-old by the 2027-28 school year. School districts can continue to offer half-day kindergarten classes for families that want the option. The bill also creates a task force that will look into how school districts should implement full-day kindergarten.

First-year state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, a Democrat representing Arlington Heights and lead sponsor of the bill, applauded the general assembly for passing the bill with bipartisan support.

“I’m really proud of the work that we’ve done,” Canty said. “From the stakeholder group to advocates, to the Senate, everyone worked really hard. Not only that, I am excited because we’re helping a lot of people and that is the only reason I do this job.”

Previously, Illinois only required schools to have a half-day kindergarten program.

Early childhood education advocates have been pushing for schools to have full-day kindergarten programs. They say teachers will have more time in full-day classes to help students learn foundational skills such as the alphabet, colors, and numbers and prepare them to enter elementary school.

Canty told Chalkbeat Chicago in April that she advocated for the bill to help working families, especially working mothers who have left the workforce since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to watch their young children.

While a majority of districts in Illinois report having full-day kindergarten, about 150 do not offer a full-day program. Some have only recently started offering it. School districts around the state such as River Forest School District 90 and Downers Grove Grade School District 58 — two wealthy districts in Chicago’s suburbs — are making the switch to full-day kindergarten this fall.

Even though the bill had bipartisan support in the general assembly, school district leaders voiced concern that creating full-day kindergarten would be expensive for school districts as they try to find space for more children and hire more staff.

The bill addresses those concerns by allowing school districts to waive transitioning to full-day kindergarten by two years if the district is funding below 76% according to the state’s evidence-based funding formula, is ranked in the top 25% of needing more capital funding, or meets a criteria set by the State Board of Education based on the task force’s recommendations.

600 children would lose child care with end of free NYC program for undocumented families

2023-05-18T21:27:57+00:00

Angela and her family left their home in Colombia after her husband, a police officer, received multiple death threats amid rising violence in the South American country.

Along with thousands of asylum seekers, her family arrived in New York City in September. They made ends meet through her husband’s sporadic construction gigs, but Angela, unable to find affordable private child care, stayed home to watch her toddler son.

Then, through tips from other newly arrived Colombian mothers, Angela discovered a new city pilot program called Promise NYC, which in January began covering up to $700 a week in child care for low-income, undocumented immigrant families. In late March, Angela’s son, just shy of 2 years old, became one of about 600 children who received vouchers to enroll in subsidized day care or after-school programs that are otherwise unavailable to those without legal immigration status.

Angela has since started a part-time job cleaning, is taking courses that would allow her to work in construction, and is figuring out how to obtain legal immigration status. But that could all end on July 1, if the City Council approves Mayor Eric Adams’ proposed budget, which slashes the pilot program for next fiscal year.

“My child wouldn’t be able to share or he wouldn’t be able to learn and grow with other children in the day care that he is part of, and I would have to resort to finding alternatives that I’m not yet prepared for,” Angela said through a translator.

The move has confused program providers, advocates, and some City Council members, who described Promise NYC as successful and netting more demand than they expected. The mayor himself touted the $10 million initiative in his vision for early childhood education last year, but in recent months, advocates became worried that Adams would cut the program. Spokespeople for City Hall and the Administration for Children’s Services, or ACS, declined to explain the mayor’s decision.

”To take that away would mean, you know, possibly the family loses employment or a kid has nowhere to go during the day,” said Kimberly Warner, deputy director of legal, organizing, and advocacy services for the Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, or NMIC, a nonprofit organization tapped by the city to help enroll children in Manhattan and the Bronx. “It would be very destabilizing.”

The mayor has proposed cuts across many city agencies, including about 3% of the education department’s budget, citing in part rising costs as more asylum seekers come to the city.

A group of about a dozen elected officials, including some City Council members and state lawmakers have called for the city to provide $20 million for the program next year, which would cover the same number of slots for a full year. Some are hoping for even more funding, as thousands of newcomer immigrants are expected in New York City.

In a statement, Queens Council member Tiffany Cabán, one of the lawmakers who pushed to create Promise NYC, said the program has been a “game changer.”

Without legal immigration status, undocumented immigrants have limited options for work, often turning to low-paying, under-the-table jobs. Nearly 29% of undocumented New Yorkers were living in poverty as of 2017, compared to 18% of naturalized citizens at the time, according to city estimates.

That means many likely struggle to pay for child care, but undocumented children typically don’t qualify for state or federally backed programs because they must be legal residents of the United States. HeadStart programs are an exception, but there are a limited number of seats, providers said.

Private care is pricey: In 2022, the median annual cost of toddler care in Manhattan was just over $17,800, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Three and 4-year-old children can attend many of the city’s free preschool programs, regardless of immigration status. But there are some programs within the city’s sprawling system, run through centers and by organizations outside of brick-and-mortar school buildings, that require children to be legal residents, including those that offer care past 3 p.m., advocates pointed out.

“That is the exact problem that Promise NYC was trying to resolve,” said Betty Baez Melo, director of the Early Childhood Education Project at Advocates for Children New York.

After advocacy from elected officials last year, City Hall agreed to launch the program. Adams even touted Promise NYC in his “Blueprint for Child Care & Early Childhood Education in New York City,” saying it would allow families to seek care “without compromising the confidentiality of their immigration status.”

The program was publicly announced in December 2022 and launched one month later, in mid-January. The four organizations charged with doing outreach and connecting families to child care are responsible for making sure families are eligible.

Warner, from NMIC, said she and her team were overwhelmed and “surprised” by the calls that immediately flooded in, mostly seeking care for kids ages 2 to 7 years old. They’ve enrolled 245 children across Manhattan and the Bronx and have roughly 150 people on a wait list. According to an ACS spokesperson, 600 children — the agency’s target — enrolled across all five boroughs by the end of April. Costs were fully covered for all but three children, the spokesperson said.

The Chinese-American Planning Council, which was tapped to oversee enrollment in Queens, has about 170 people on a waiting list, said Sumon Chin, the organization’s director of early childhood learning and wellness services.

Besides handling high demand, Chin’s organization also struggled to find child care options for infants and toddlers in certain pockets of Queens that are known as “child care deserts,” such as the Corona neighborhood. Along with keeping the program, Chin hopes the city will provide more funding so that each organization can hire more help, due to the demand and difficulty of the work.

Soneyllys, a mother from the Dominican Republic, enrolled her toddler son in day care through Promise NYC in February. Since then, she has noticed he’s talking and is generally more active at home. It also allowed her to work for the first time since coming to the United States two years ago, she said through a translator.

She worries that losing child care will make it difficult to get legal immigration status.

“I cannot afford day care, and I will not be able to give my child a better life because I don’t have the opportunity to find a full-time job that I can provide for my child,” she said.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City public schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Colorado’s free preschool program has 19,000 families signed up with at least 15,000 more expected

2023-05-16T21:09:12+00:00

Nearly 19,000 Colorado families have accepted their children’s preschool matches for next fall when the state’s new universal preschool program launches.

It’s the latest milestone in the sometimes chaotic journey toward one of Gov. Jared Polis’ signature priorities: tuition-free preschool for any 4-year-old whose family wants it. State officials expect more than 30,000 4-year-olds, which represents about half of Colorado kids that age, to participate in the program next year.

The state’s universal preschool program will be funded in part with a voter-approved nicotine tax and offered in school district classrooms, private child care centers, church-based preschools, and homes licensed by the state. Children will get 10 to 30 hours a week of tuition-free class time, depending on what schedules are available in their area and whether they come from lower-income families or have other risk factors.

The 19,000 families that have accepted their preschool matches so far all applied for a universal preschool seat in the first round, which closed at the end of February. The second application window closes Wednesday at 5 p.m. It’s open to families who have not yet applied for universal preschool, families who applied in the first round but didn’t get matched with a provider, and families who declined their first round preschool match.

More Colorado preschools have opted to participate in the universal program since the first application window closed, so there may be choices available now that weren’t available in January and February.

Families who apply by Wednesday will learn their preschool matches on June 1 and must accept or decline them by June 8. Once families accept their matches, they fill out the standard enrollment paperwork required by their preschool. State officials expect 4-year-olds from about 15,000 additional families to be matched with preschools in the second round.

After the second round closes, families can still apply for a universal preschool seat on a rolling basis.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org

Better pay and more hours: NYC Council leaders push for changes to 3-K, pre-K programs

2023-05-10T00:30:12+00:00

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education in communities across America. Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to keep up with NYC’s public schools.

Leaders of New York City Council charged Mayor Eric Adams with failing to address problems that have plagued the city’s public preschool programs, and they made several demands to improve the system.

Speaking in the playground of a Lower East Side 3-K and prekindergarten center Tuesday, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, several of her colleagues, and advocates listed several items they want. That includes higher pay for workers in programs run by community-based organizations, paying preschool providers on time, improving outreach to encourage more families to enroll, and allowing community organizations to directly enroll families.

The push comes as budget negotiations are underway between the council and the mayor, whose $106.7 billion proposed budget would cut funding for the education department by 3%, or $960 million. That slashes a plan under former Mayor Bill de Blasio to further expand preschool for 3-year-old children, with the Adams administration pointing to at least 16,000 unfilled seats.

Speaker Adams blasted the mayor’s approach, describing the city’s early childhood education system as “broken” and “in full crisis mode.”

“As my colleagues in the council and the advocates here today have pointed out repeatedly, the city needs to correct its course to address the gaps in our system so we provide stability for this very critical sector,” she told reporters outside the program run by Grand Street Settlement.

New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, flanked by council members and advocates, discusses changes they’ll demand of Mayor Eric Adams in order to improve the city’s public preschool system.

Mayor Adams’ first year in office has been marked by changes and sometimes chaos in the city’s early childhood education system. In addition to the cancellation of plans to expand 3-K, many providers have reported that the city has not paid them on time, which has left some programs in financial crisis and caused others to close. Despite the city’s promise to fix the problem, multiple council members said Tuesday that they’re still hearing of issues at centers across the city.

When the education department announced a bureaucratic overhaul, including moving hundreds of early childhood workers to other offices, those workers were left in limbo without clarity about what their new jobs would entail; the department later pulled back on that plan.

At the same time, the mayor has vowed to ensure the city offers enough seats to preschool students with disabilities, an issue that his predecessor failed to solve.

In a statement, education department spokesperson Nathaniel Styer credited the city’s outreach efforts, noting that applications for 3-K have increased by more than 20% compared to last year. The city, he said, has shifted 3,500 3-K and pre-K seats from “unfilled areas to areas of demand, which also includes shifting the types of seats offered to meet actual need.”

Styer added, “there is a misalignment of seats that we are tackling head on.”

Boosting worker pay at community-based organizations

For several advocacy organizations, boosting pay for teachers and other support staff is the most important issue to tackle. Better pay would mean retaining quality staff instead of losing them to programs or jobs that pay better, they argue.

Pay disparities are in part the result of the patchwork of programs that make up the city’s preschool system. Some programs are run by the education department, such as inside schools, while community-based organizations run others. Department staffers are unionized and are generally paid more than their counterparts working in community-based organizations, who tend to be women of color.

Four years ago, the city agreed to boost salaries for teachers at community organizations with a certified masters degree, to $69,000 a year by October 2021, matching the salary of a first-year teacher at the education department. The agreement didn’t include raises after that date, and it also meant a veteran teacher at a community-based organization made the same as a new education department teacher, said Gregory Brender, chief policy and innovation officer with Day Care Council.

Tara Gardner, executive director of the Day Care Council, shared an example of one disparity that still exists: An assistant teacher at a community-based organization earns 53% of their counterpart in public schools. Advocates like Gardner want pay for teachers at community-based organizations to match their years of service, as well as comparable pay for other support staff, such as paraprofessionals and custodians.

“They do the same work as staff at the DOE; the only difference is the building,” said Ayana Reefe, Head Start director for Grand Street Settlement, the community organization where Speaker Adams visited on Tuesday.

Council members will also push for $15 million to provide a longer school day and year for 1,000 3-year-olds. That funding — which would convert existing seats instead of adding more — would also include signing bonuses “to help attract and retain the necessary staff,” officials said.

Currently, many 3-K seats are only available between 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., which advocates argue don’t work for parents who work outside of those hours. In a recent survey conducted by the Citizens’ Committee for Children, one-third of more than 1,000 respondents said they were looking for child care from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Styer noted that there are 11,000 unfilled seats with longer hours that go beyond the school year.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said a survey from the Citizens Committee for Children included 160 respondents due to incorrect information. In fact, there were more than 1,000 respondents.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City public schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Are there enough free preschool seats for Colorado 4-year-olds? It depends.

2023-04-26T11:00:00+00:00

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering schools in communities across America. Sign up for our free monthly newsletter The Starting Line to keep up with news about early childhood education.

Since Colorado leaders began planning a major expansion of state-funded preschool more than two years ago, parents and advocates have wondered: Will there be enough seats for everybody who wants one?

The answer: It depends.

On paper, there are plenty of seats. State officials expect only about half of Colorado’s 4-year-olds — around 31,000 children — to participate in the first year. Meanwhile, a Chalkbeat analysis found more than 56,000 preschool seats available for next fall.

“Right now, it’s looking really good,” said Dawn Odean, the state’s universal preschool director.

But things get stickier at the county level. Some parts of the state are awash in preschool seats and others don’t have nearly enough. Some families may also struggle to find preschools with the schedules and programming they want.

“The physical number of slots versus what parents actually need doesn’t necessarily align,” said Kelly Esch, who’s both the parent of a preschooler and executive director of an organization that provides early childhood coaching and resources in western Colorado’s Garfield County.

While Chalkbeat’s county-by-county analysis provides a snapshot of preschool availability across Colorado, there are plenty of factors it doesn’t account for — families who cross county lines for preschool or the uneven distribution of seats within counties. Plus, it’s possible more providers will join soon, adding new seats to the tally.

Odean said state officials plan to dig deeper into the data for trouble spots once parents select preschools for the coming year. Families of about 26,000 4-year-olds who applied for seats by the end of February will find out Wednesday what preschools they matched with and will have two weeks to accept or decline the offers. (Families can continue to apply through the summer and fall.)

The new preschool program will offer 10 to 15 hours a week of tuition-free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide, 30 hours a week to 4-year-olds who come from lower-income families or meet other criteria, and 10 hours a week to some 3-year-olds. The program is funded in part with a voter-approved nicotine tax and will be offered in school district classrooms, private child care centers, church-based preschools, and homes licensed by the state.

Esch, who lives in the small town of Newcastle, is pretty sure her son Oliver will land a universal preschool seat in the home of the beloved child care provider he’s been with since he was 10 weeks old. Not only does she offer hard-to-find all-day and summertime care, the provider runs a top-notch program, Esch said, and for a while even adjusted Oliver’s nap schedule so she could work with him one-on-one to overcome a speech delay.

Although Oliver should get priority for one of the provider’s two universal preschool spots, Esch still feels uncertain about how things will play out under the state’s new system.

“Are we in? Did it work?” she wondered as she awaited the official notification email.

Preschools have big decisions to make

While around 1,700 preschools have signed up to offer universal preschool classes next fall, the exact number of seats is still in flux at many programs. In some cases, that’s because of unfolding expansion projects or difficulty finding teachers to staff classrooms. In others, preschool providers are still considering whether to offer full-time or part-time slots or are uncertain about whether they can release unfilled seats reserved for students with disabilities or children of employees to the general public.

At Springfield Preschool, a highly rated school district program in southern Colorado, leaders haven’t yet decided how many hours a week to offer 4-year-olds next year.

Director Debbie Sharpe said the preschool will probably have enough spots for all interested families if it continues with half-day classes. But she knows Baca County is a child care desert and that full-day preschool would be a godsend to many locals. District officials will decide which schedule to offer in the next few weeks.

If the preschool moves to full-day, there won’t be enough seats for every child, Sharpe said. “Space is going to be a problem.”

Stacy Petty, who heads the group coordinating universal preschool in Garfield, Pitkin, and Lake counties, and part of Eagle County, expects shortages too.

“We didn’t have enough seats to support everyone in our region before [universal preschool].” she said. “We do have some expansion going on, which is going to help, but we still know we don’t have enough seats for everybody.”

Petty said based on preliminary interest, she expects 80% of eligible families in the area to seek a universal preschool seat — well above the 50% uptake Colorado leaders anticipate statewide.

In the Garfield RE-2 school district, based in Rifle, preschool expansion projects are underway at two elementary schools. Together, they’ll add around 80 new preschool seats, some by August and the rest by January.

Emily Kielmeyer, the district’s early childhood coach and coordinator, said she’s hopeful the expansion, which will bring the total number of preschool seats to 300, will be enough to accommodate every family that wants a spot.

“We knew the time was right with universal preschool coming,” she said of the expansion.

District officials say there’s been lots of residential growth in the area — people who left cities in search of smaller communities and outdoor space during the pandemic or who’ve gradually been priced out of “up-valley” housing in cities like Aspen.

“We have housing starts through the roof out here,” said district spokesperson Theresa Hamilton.

Thousands of families may still apply

It’s likely most families who want a universal preschool spot next year have already applied, but providers and advocates say they’re still fielding questions from families who are confused about the process.

Kelli Gabehart, the preschool director for the Elbert County school district southeast of Denver, discovered some parents haven’t applied because they erroneously believed universal preschool provides only 15 tuition-free hours a month. (It’s actually 15 hours a week.)

They’d say, “Oh, it’s not even worth applying for,” she said.

Some providers say they’ve provided computers and on-the-spot help for parents filling out the universal preschool application after finding that some longtime clients hadn’t signed up.

That’s the case at Family Star Montessori, which will offer a total of 36 universal preschool slots at its two Denver locations next year. Most are reserved for children from low-income families, but private pay families can enroll too.

Julia McConnaughey, the program’s senior director of community partnerships, said Family Star still has a few open spots for next year, and had even more earlier in the application process.

“I don’t think there was enough outreach to the public without schools doing the heavy lifting,” she said. “We had to personally ask every parent, ‘Hey did you apply? Did you choose Family Star as your first choice?’”

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org

Illinois could require school districts to have full-day kindergarten by 2027

2023-04-20T22:19:56+00:00

Illinois State Rep. Mary Beth Canty and her husband remember struggling to balance full-time jobs and picking up two children — who are currently in sixth and third grade — from their half-day kindergarten program in Arlington Heights District 25.

She also noticed that the then-kindergartners were loaded with homework because there wasn’t enough time to get through the material in the two-and-a-half-hour half-day session.

Now, Arlington Heights plans to start offering full-day kindergarten in the 2024-25 school year. Canty, a first-year lawmaker representing Arlington Heights, thinks that is the right move for all districts in Illinois.

She has introduced a bill that would mandate full-day kindergarten for school districts around the state by the 2027-28 school year. The bill, HB 2396, would also require the state to create a task force to examine full-day kindergarten in 2024.

The bill has already passed the house with bipartisan support and is in the Senate’s education committee where it will go up for a hearing on April 25.

Parents, educators, and advocates want school districts to offer full-day programs because they say teachers would have more time to help children learn foundational skills such as their alphabets, colors, and numbers, working parents would have child care covered, and students would be better prepared to enter elementary school. But some critics have concerns about additional costs, staffing, and space at local schools.

Illinois currently requires school districts to have half-day kindergarten. In 2021-22, over 700 of the state’s 852 school districts reported full-day kindergarten enrollments, but that could include students enrolled in half-day programs who are receiving other services throughout the day, a Chalkbeat analysis of data from the Illinois State Board of Education found. Districts report more full-day programs enrollments than half-day enrollments, according to the analysis.

According to the Education Commission of the States, 17 states and Washington D.C. required full-day kindergarten as of 2020.

In Illinois, Gov. J.B Pritzker earlier this year announced his Smart Start Plan to increase funding for early childhood education and child care in the state for children who are 3 and 4 years old. Canty believes that the state also needs to make sure that all 5-year-olds have access to full-day kindergarten.

Full-day kindergarten benefits students and their families — especially mothers who have left the workforce since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to watch their children, Canty said.

“If we believe in our kids and we want a strong economy, this is how we do it,” said Canty. “We invest in our youngest, we invest in our families, and we make it possible for them to participate meaningfully.”

State mandate could increase full-day kindergarten enrollment

Without mandated full-day kindergarten, education advocates worry that parents will not enroll their children in kindergarten and might be forced to shuffle them around to different family members’ homes while they work.

Erean Mei, a kindergarten teacher at KIPP Academy Chicago Primary, supports the full-day kindergarten bill because she sees it as a way to create equal opportunities for children regardless of their socioeconomic status.

“I think the bill addresses an equity question of children who grow up in a home where parents are able to pick them up from a half-day program versus those who are not able to access kindergarten,” Mei said.

In Illinois, parents are not required to send their children to school until they turn 6. During the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Illinois saw a drop in the number of students enrolled in kindergarten in 2021 because parents worried about their young children contracting COVID-19 or had trouble managing remote learning and work.

A study by the National Center for Education Statistics found that students in full-day programs had significant gains in reading and math and social and emotional skills. Teachers were also able to get through more curriculum with students.

Some districts without full-day kindergarten are already adding it

Until COVID shuttered schools in 2020, River Forest School District 90 leaders didn’t see the added benefits of a full-day kindergarten when they discussed it in 2011 and 2015.

Then the pandemic hit and Superintendent Alison Hawley said she saw a gap in resources between students from low-income families and those in affluent families.

“We have more dual-income earners in our district than we did previously and family needs are changing,” said Hawley. “We’re changing standards for our kindergarten students. The academic standards are designed for a full year and we have a half-day program.”

River Forest’s Board of Education decided in February to expand its kindergarten program after getting input from families, educators, and community members. To prepare for the full-day program, the 1,300-student district will need to hire a few more teachers — especially if enrollment increases, according to Hawley.

River Forest is one of several Illinois districts switching to a full-day program this fall. While a majority of districts in the state report having full-day kindergarten, about 100 do not offer a full-day program. Some are slowly making the transition to full-day kindergarten without a law in place.

Downers Grove Grade School District 58 is another school district that decided in February to switch to free, full-day kindergarten for the 2023-24 school year.

Since 2015, Downers Grove has offered families free half-day kindergarten in the morning and a tuition-based full-day program in the afternoon. Next year, the district will offer a free full-day program for 5-year-olds, after receiving more funding through local tax revenue to work on updating older buildings in the district.

According to Downers Grove Superintendent Kevin Russell, the district had considered full-day programming for nearly two decades, but it was impossible without additional funding. Both River Forest and Downers Grove serve wealthier communities.

Russell worries that without additional funding to increase space and staffing, less affluent districts will have a hard time shifting to the full-day program mandated in Canty’s bill.

“When we’re talking about full-day kindergarten in a historic teacher shortage with a lack of a funding mechanism for more staff and facilities, this is a really daunting challenge for school districts,” said Russell. “Many of my colleagues have expressed that they don’t know how they’re going to make this happen.”

Opponents say funding and space are barriers

Emily Warnecke, director of public relations and deputy director of governmental relations for the Illinois Association of School Board Administrators, said her organization supports the idea of full-day kindergarten but believes more work needs to be done first.

“We know that there are districts that want to be able to do this,” said Warnecke, “but they just do not have the space and they would need the money to fund the construction to add those spaces.”

Before the state mandates full-day programs, Warnecke believes it should create a task force to study which districts have full-day kindergarten and the barriers districts that don’t face.

Canty said she understands concerns about funding, but hopes that extending the time to shift to full-day programs to the 2027-28 school year will make the transition smoother for districts.

Under the current version of the bill, districts can waive creating a full-day program for two years after the initial date if the district is funding below 70% according to the state’s evidence-based funding formula, is ranked in the top 25% of needing more capital funding, or meets a criteria set by the State Board of Education based on the task force’s recommendations.

Chicago preschool applications are open. Here’s what you need to know.

2023-04-14T23:20:01+00:00

Chicago families can now apply for preschool for the 2023-24 school year — marking the culmination of a yearslong effort to offer free universal access to the city’s 4-year-olds.

The initial application period runs through May 2 and offers will be made on May 19. After that, people can apply and will be admitted on a rolling first-come, first-served basis.

The Chicago Early Learning portal includes all full-day and half-day programs for 3- and 4-year-olds operating within Chicago Public Schools, including public Montessori options, as well as early childhood programs run by community-based organizations through the city’s Department of Family and Support Services.

Families can also apply by calling 312-229-1690 or at select public libraries. Registration events will also be held across the city during the month of April.

Is there a spot in CPS preschools for everyone?

Four-year-olds living in the city, regardless of family income, can now attend preschool for free at most of the city’s public schools.

“We’re pretty close to being fully universal,” said Leslie McKinley, chief officer for the Office of Early Childhood with Chicago Public Schools.

The district said it has 15,755 full-day spots for 4-year-olds and 6,704 half-day spots for 3-year-olds in Chicago Public Schools. Additionally, the city is funding 13,091 seats in community-based programs, 7,424 of which are for children over the age of 3. The remaining are for babies and toddlers.

Last year, 12,460 4-year-olds and 3,943 3-year-olds enrolled in district preschool programs. That’s up since the first year of the COVID pandemic, but enrollment has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, when 14,300 4-year-olds and 3,192 4-year-olds attended pre-K in Chicago Public Schools.

Last year, roughly 3,500 spots went unfilled in the city’s public pre-K classrooms. Many were in high-poverty neighborhoods, an analysis by WBEZ found. Overall, birth rates and the number of school-aged children in Chicago has declined in the past decade. But a Chalkbeat analysis of census data indicates there are nearly 65,000 3- and 4-year-olds living in Chicago.

How do I find a preschool near me and apply?

Families can apply to up to five programs and are able to search what’s offered using an interactive map. The application can be submitted through GoCPS, which is also where results will come through.

Applicants should rank programs in order of preference. The application asks for demographic, residency, and income information, but no paperwork is required until you enroll. You can save your application and come back to it later if you aren’t ready to submit it right away or need to dig up information that you don’t have at your fingertips. This video provides a helpful walkthrough.

Many public schools are offering tours and information sessions April 24-28. The district recommends calling schools directly or visiting their websites to find out when they’ll be offering these sessions.

When will I know if my child got into a preschool program?

All applications submitted by May 2 will receive an offer on May 19. Families can still apply after that, and will get offers on a rolling first-come, first-served basis.

For full-day pre-K offered through Chicago Public Schools, 4-year-olds get priority. Children are also prioritized based on their proximity to a school, whether or not they have siblings enrolled, their family’s income, and whether or not they have a disability.

Unlike previous years, applicants will be given waitlist numbers for programs where they do not initially get offers. If an applicant gets waitlisted and wants to apply to a different program, they can call the Chicago Early Learning hotline at 312-229-1690.

Another word of caution: Waitlist numbers could change almost daily, McKinley said, because spots are prioritized based on need.

Once I get an offer from a pre-K program, then what?

Applicants can accept or decline offers through the GoCPS portal, using the hotline, or by calling or visiting the school directly.

In order to enroll, families will need to provide a birth certificate or passport to prove the child’s age. They will also be asked to provide documentation confirming income and showing they live in Chicago, though alternative forms are available if a family has no income or is in a temporary living situation. Proof of citizenship is not required.

If your 3- or 4-year-old attends their neighborhood school or is admitted into the public Montessori programs at Drummond or Suder for pre-K, they are guaranteed a spot in kindergarten and beyond. But if your child chooses a pre-K outside their neighborhood or at another magnet school, they may need to reapply for kindergarten.

More details are available on the Chicago Early Learning website. And if you still have questions, send them our way at chicago.tips@chalkbeat.org.

This story has been updated with new information from district officials clarifying how waitlists for preschool programs work.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

No new quality rules for first year of Colorado’s free preschool program

2023-04-07T21:06:34+00:00

Colorado won’t require preschools to make quality improvements during the first year of the state’s new universal preschool program, which launches in August.

State officials have consistently pledged that the new program will provide high-quality preschool, which experts say can produce short- and long-term benefits for kids. But they announced this week what they called “keep doing what you’re doing” guidance. That means preschool providers can continue with their current practices and policies.

The decision to hold off on mandating new preschool quality standards is more evidence of Colorado’s rush to roll out the major new program on an extremely tight timeline — an issue that providers and advocates have raised repeatedly in the last year.

The universal program will offer 10-30 hours a week of tuition-free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide and 10 hours a week to some 3-year-olds. It’s funded in part with a voter-approved nicotine tax.

Dawn Odean, the state’s universal preschool director, said in a statement Thursday the new guidance was created to alleviate provider concerns about “the unknown” and allow them to prepare for the program launch.

The state’s decision means that next fall, more than 30,000 Colorado children who’ve signed up for universal preschool will attend preschools that vary widely in quality. Some will attend programs with the state’s top Level 5 rating, which indicates excellence in several categories. Others will go to preschools with the lowest Level 1 rating, which indicates the program is licensed by the state and meets basic health and safety standards.

There are various ways to measure preschool quality, but class size caps, staff credentials, teacher training requirements, and curriculum choice may be among the criteria. The National Institute of Early Education Research at Rutgers University rates states using 10 benchmarks of preschool quality. Colorado’s existing state-funded preschool program, which serves about 15,000 4-year-olds, only meets four of the benchmarks.

Colorado is allowing some providers to have 24 students per class this fall, higher than the 16-student maximum the current state preschool program allows and the 20-student maximum the institute’s benchmark recommends.

Leaders from the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, which is running the universal preschool program, said they’ll adopt quality standards in the fall that will take effect in the summer of 2024.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

How will Chicago’s next mayor shape early childhood education? Advocates warn of challenges ahead.

2023-03-31T19:00:16+00:00

Chicago’s youngest residents cannot vote for the city’s next mayor, but their parents can.

As Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas face off in an April 4 runoff election to become the city’s next mayor, both have promised to support early childhood education and provide families with accessible and affordable options for high-quality child care. Johnson said he would focus on affordable child care and increasing wages for staff, while Vallas’ plan would support children from birth until they reach the classroom.

But experts, advocates, and child care providers say both candidates have given few details about how they would help the city’s over 200,000 youngest learners. They hope whoever is elected will increase funding for early education, address current staffing shortages, work across several agencies, and make child care more affordable.

Chicago Public Schools currently offers full-day free preschool for 4-year-olds. Community-based organizations also offer pre-kindergarten with full and half day programs for 3- and 4- year-olds. Head Start, which is federally funded and administered by the city’s Department of Family and Support Services, also offers child care and preschool for low-income families. In addition, some parents pay for private child care centers.

Kyrsten Emanuel, senior policy manager at Start Early, a nonprofit organization in Illinois that advocates for early childhood education and child care, said the mayor’s office is influential in shaping the city’s early childhood education and child care landscape, especially as community-based organizations and public schools are competing for students.

“Every time Chicago Public Schools expands pre-K, it impacts enrollment and staffing in community-based programs,” said Emanuel. “To mitigate that impact, there really needs to be intentional coordination happening both at the city and the community level.”

Johnson, a Cook County commissioner, has proposed “child care for all.” He says he would focus on making child care affordable for families and wants to increase wages for child care workers. In a statement to Chalkbeat Chicago, Johnson said he will work with Gov. J.B Pritzker and the general assembly to increase state funding for early childhood education.

“I will advocate in Springfield to end the system of giving wealthy corporations tax breaks at the expense of working families who desperately need safe, reliable child care,” Johnson said.

Vallas, former Chicago Public Schools CEO, wants to expand support for young children from birth until they enter the classroom — with a focus on teen mothers and their children. In February during an early childhood education mayoral forum, Vallas said he wanted to use under-enrolled school buildings for child care centers and create tax incentives for private centers to make child care more affordable for families.

Chalkbeat Chicago reached out to both campaigns for details on their early childhood education and child care plans. As of publication, Vallas’ campaign had not responded.

No matter who wins the election, Chicago’s next mayor will face a series of challenges while shaping the city’s early childhood education and child care landscape.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has continued rolling out universal preschool to families with 4-year-olds in the city, continuing the work of her predecessor Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Under Lightfoot’s administration, the city’s early learning chief stepped down in the second year of the rollout and the early days of COVID-19 slowed down the city’s efforts.

Bela Moté, president and CEO of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning, who has seen the expansion of universal preschool under Emanuel and Lightfoot, hopes the next mayor has a dedicated team working on early childhood education issues. This is especially important, she added, because in Chicago early childhood programs are run by a mix of agencies, including Chicago Public Schools, the city’s Department of Family and Support Services, and community-based organizations.

“The machine doesn’t work if these three pegs aren’t moving together,” Moté said.

There are also challenges when it comes to staffing. Child care providers are struggling to attract and retain workers, who are often paid less than their elementary school peers. The early childhood education workforce is mostly women of color, who are often paid less than their white colleagues.

Meghan Gowin, a postdoctoral researcher at the Erikson Institute, said that as the city grows capacity for more 3- and 4-year-olds to enter pre-K in Chicago Public Schools and community-based organizations, the next mayor needs to look at what resources are currently available and the needs of the workforce.

“What are some of the supports and resources that are going to be provided to those centers and educators to make sure that as they’re getting in more children, they’re able to actually support those children in ways that are culturally sustainable and inclusive?” Gowin said.

Earlier this year, Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed a four-year plan called Smart Start Illinois that would increase funding in order to serve more children. In the coming fiscal year, the governor is proposing an additional $250 million that would add 5,000 seats statewide in preschool classrooms for 3- and 4-year olds.

The state board of education’s early childhood education block grant would receive an additional $75 million — of which 37% would go to Chicago Public Schools. Pritzker’s budget still needs approval by the legislature.

Even with the state increasing funding to early childhood education, the city should look for additional ways to boost revenue, said Emanuel of Start Early. She also recommends addressing the staffing shortage through increased funding for Chicago Early Learning Workforce Scholarship, a program that supports Chicagoans who want to become early childhood educators in schools or community-based organizations.

Correction: March 31, 2023: This story has been updated to correct Bela Moté’s title from founder and CEO to president and CEO of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning.

Colorado delays free preschool program matching date to April 26

2023-03-29T03:04:31+00:00

It will be another month before Colorado families know where they can send their children for preschool under the state’s new universal preschool program.

Families were supposed to learn which programs they had matched with on Thursday. But on Tuesday, officials with Colorado’s Department of Early Childhood announced they plan to tell families on April 26.

As reported by Chalkbeat, more than 20 education and early childhood groups had asked the state to push back initial matches due to problems with the algorithm that meant some families might miss out on top choices and other families might be offered seats that didn’t meet their needs. They feared the program was being rushed, and families would end up frustrated.

State officials held firm to the initial March 30 matching date until just two days prior. Denver Public Schools even sent an email to parents Tuesday afternoon telling families to watch their texts and emails for state notifications this Thursday.

Tuesday evening, state officials said in a press release that to “maximize the likelihood of families receiving their first or second choice, allow for additional time that will enable providers to fully consider their capabilities to expand their offerings in the coming school year, and give families the opportunity to fine-tune their preferences, the department is extending the release of the first round of matching until April 26, 2023.”

More than 29,000 families have signed up for a free 4-year-old preschool spot, and more than 1,800 providers are participating, according to the Department of Early Childhood.

The initial enrollment period closed Feb. 24, but families can still apply.

The program, a major policy initiative of Gov. Jared Polis, will offer 10 to 15 hours a week of tuition-free preschool to every 4-year-old in the year before they enter kindergarten. Some children, including those from low-income households, those who are learning English, and those with disabilities, are eligible for 30 hours a week. Some 3-year-olds are also eligible for 10 hours a week of free preschool.

The program is funded in large part by a voter-approved nicotine tax.

Providers and school district officials identified a number of problems with the March 30 match date. Some providers struggled to reach families with incomplete applications, worrying they might lose out on priority points that would increase access to their top choice. Families who got priority at one program were given the same boost for all their choices, potentially displacing other families. State officials said that happened because they did not pay for a more sophisticated algorithm that could have better ranked preferences.

Bureau Chief Erica Meltzer covers education policy and politics and oversees Chalkbeat Colorado’s education coverage. Contact Erica at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org.

Free preschool program’s matching system not ready for prime time, Colorado education groups worry

2023-03-24T22:15:20+00:00

On March 30, about 26,000 Colorado families are scheduled to find out what preschool their children can enroll in next fall as part of the state’s new universal preschool program.

But more than 20 education and early childhood groups have unsuccessfully sought to delay those notifications because they see too many problems. An inadequate computer algorithm and confusion about the process mean some families might lose out on top choices and others might be offered seats that don’t meet their needs. It’s also not clear Colorado will have enough money to offer all the hours many families believe are guaranteed.

The groups spelled out their concerns in two letters sent last week to the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, the new state agency in charge of the universal preschool program. Echoing critiques that have bubbled up consistently over several months, they said the rushed rollout has left too many unanswered questions and could tarnish public perception of the program during its first year.

“It’s our first time. Let’s do this right,” said Diane Smith, executive director of the Douglas County Early Childhood Council, which was one of 16 groups to sign one of the letters.

The other letter, which raised similar issues, came from five groups, including the Colorado Association of School Executives, the Colorado Association of School Boards and the Colorado Rural Schools Alliance. Chalkbeat obtained copies of the letters through a public records request.

Lisa Roy, executive director of the Department of Early Childhood, said state officials are working with the groups that signed the letters to address their concerns, but aren’t planning to change the March 30 notification date because it would push other key deadlines back.

She said about 86% of approximately 26,000 4-year-olds who applied for universal preschool by late February have been matched with their first-choice preschool. The rest — around 3,600 children — either didn’t match with any preschool or got matched with a lower-ranked choice.

“There’s high expectations I know for a new state government department to know everything, but … we’re a startup department and this is a startup initiative,” Roy said.

Some families face more challenges with preschool applications

Both preschool providers and representatives from groups that signed the letters agree that many Colorado families applying for the universal preschool program will get matched with their top choices. But they worry about families who face more barriers in navigating the brand-new process.

Once Colorado families are notified and begin accepting their matches on March 30, seats will fill up rapidly — leaving fewer options for families who had problems applying.

Elsa Holguin, president and CEO of the Denver Preschool Program, a group that signed one of the letters, said her staff has tried to reach families who skipped checkboxes or made other errors on the universal preschool application. But some parents didn’t list email addresses and their voicemail boxes are full, so staff must call repeatedly. She said more time before the match notification would help ensure such families are contacted and matched with a preschool.

One of the two recent letters noted that state preschool officials have called this year a “learning year” and asked for patience and grace from preschool providers.

But families “don’t have the same ability to count next year as a learning year when they are depending on us to serve their students and ensure a positive educational experience,” the letter said. “We are very concerned about the frustration and questions we’re already hearing from them.”

Kari Thibodeau, director of Parker Landing Child Development Center in Douglas County, has been on the receiving end of such questions after she contacted 11 families whose children she expected would be matched with her next year, but weren’t on the list she received.

Some of the parents became so worried about losing the chance to stay at the center their kids have attended since infancy, they’ve offered to send Thibodeau screenshots of their universal preschool application to prove they chose Parker Landing.

Thibodeau sympathizes, but tells them she doesn’t control how the state’s matching system works.

“I just want to make sure I’m not going to frustrate my families because they get paired with another school,” she said. “They’re all nervous.”

Families can still apply for a universal preschool seat now, but they may have fewer choices and will find out their matches later.

Problems with computer algorithm and funding uncertainty

Another issue raised by the letter writers is that the computer matching system erroneously pushed some families to the front of the line for all five of their preschool choices. While families are supposed to get that boost for a preschool their child already attends, a program a sibling attends, or one where a parent works, the algorithm applied those priority points to every preschool choice on a family’s application.

“To allow families to have preferred placement in the lottery system for five providers when their preferred status should only apply to one site unfairly prioritizes those students over all other applicants in the system,” the letter from the five education groups stated.

Roy said the computer algorithm gives families priority points for all their preschool choices because the state didn’t pay to make it more specific. That may be fixed next year.

“It costs a lot of money,” she said. “We plan on shifting that but have to have the funding to do so.”

There are also questions about whether the state will have enough funding to provide 30 hours of preschool a week to certain 4-year-olds as universal preschool messaging indicated. Eligible children include those who come from lower-income families, are English learners, are homeless, or are in foster care.

Roy said because of higher-than-expected interest in universal preschool the state is analyzing the cost now and won’t have an answer about which preschoolers will get the 30 hours until weeks after the March 30 matches go out.

The letter from five groups including the Colorado Association of School Executives warned that telling parents after the fact they won’t get the hours they expected could create “credibility issues.”

That could leave preschool providers “facing the ire of parents when programs have to charge them tuition or to refer to other funding sources when the 30-hour programs are not funded as advertised,” the letter said.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that while some of the state’s promotional materials suggest qualifying families will get 30 hours of preschool, the state has not actually promised to provide those hours.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia’s early childhood education workers ‘on the brink of a breakdown’ advocates say

2023-03-16T18:17:30+00:00

Citing “inadequate” wages and warning of an impending mass exodus from the field, early childhood education advocates in Philadelphia and statewide say their sector is “on the brink of a breakdown.”

Those advocates are urging state lawmakers and Gov. Josh Shapiro to add more funding for childcare and early childhood education in the state budget this year. Without more money, they say employees will leave, programs will close, and children, families, and businesses in Pennsylvania will face “devastating consequences.”

Shapiro’s proposed budget includes $66.7 million in early childhood education funding. But advocates said that’s far from enough. They are calling for $430 million for increasing wages and expanding programs across Pennsylvania.

Roughly 50% of early childhood educators surveyed across the commonwealth said they were “unsure” or “intending to not be working in their jobs in five years,” Start Strong PA, a statewide early education advocacy group, said in a new report.

(The report was funded through a grant from the William Penn Foundation. Chalkbeat receives funding from the William Penn Foundation.)

Losing those workers would mean smaller programs with fewer teachers. That would leave more families in need of child care without an option, and keep more parents — especially women — out of the workforce, advocates say.

Sheila Moses, a former early childhood teacher, said Thursday at the Northeast Philadelphia YMCA, she had to leave her job as an educator because of the low wages.

“The tension I experienced as a single parent was overwhelming,” said Moses, who spoke at an event to promote the report hosted by the Start Strong and Children First advocacy groups. “I worked full-time and still needed welfare to support my family.”

The Start Strong report said that the child care sector in Philadelphia “is in crisis.” Its analysis found that 83% of Philadelphia-area programs have a staffing shortage, with 616 open positions across the city and 2,831 children on waitlists.

Using 2021 earnings data, the most recent available, the report also found that in all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, early childhood teachers’ earnings “failed to meet the cost-of-living” and were not sufficient to cover “basic necessities like housing, transportation and food.”

Wages varied across the state. The highest earners were in Union County, who make up to $31,320 annually, while teachers in Elk County earned as little as $15,408 per year.

In Philadelphia County, the estimated full-time hourly rate for these teachers was $14.37 for annual earnings of $29,884.

The report’s authors said early childhood workers earned less annually than housekeepers, hair stylists, landscapers, and retail workers.

Donna Cooper, executive director of Children First, said at the event Thursday that early childhood programs are losing teachers to businesses like Amazon that can pay higher wages and offer more immediate healthcare benefits.

Milagros Battiti, an early educator at KinderAcademy in Philadelphia, said at the event she’s been “struggling to provide basic necessities for myself” on her current earnings of $30,000 a year.

When her mother was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2022, those struggles multiplied and she fell under the federal poverty line.

“I am not the dream I envisioned or worked hard towards,” Battiti said. “I’m just surviving day by day.”

Chalkbeat Philadelphia Senior Writer Dale Mezzacappa contributed to this story.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Promising Futures child care scholarship bill advances in Tennessee Senate

2023-03-15T23:25:09+00:00

A bill to create a scholarship program to help Tennessee’s low- and middle-income families pay for high-quality early child care cleared its first legislative hurdle Wednesday — even as some lawmakers questioned whether funding child care should be the state’s responsibility.

The Senate Education Committee voted 7-2 to advance the legislation, which could tap up to $40 million annually in tax revenue from the state’s newly legalized sports betting industry.

Dubbed Promising Futures, the program would take a cue from Tennessee Promise, the state’s groundbreaking 2014 initiative offering high school graduates a chance at two years of tuition-free community or technical college.

If Promising Futures launches, Tennessee would again become a national leader in using lottery- or sports betting-funded scholarships to address a major workforce challenge, according to Max Altman, director of research and policy for the Southern Education Foundation.

“There’s a wide open space, especially in the South, for states to step in and take on the mantle of leadership to increase child care access,” Altman told Chalkbeat.

An early child care “crisis” is costing Tennessee parents, businesses, and taxpayers an estimated $2.6 billion annually in lost earnings and revenues, according to a 2022 study. And business groups from across the state have signed a letter urging lawmakers to create the new government scholarship program.

High-quality child care programs emphasizing early literacy also would help children become proficient readers by the third grade — a major focus of Tennessee’s education improvement strategy, said Sen. Becky Massey, a Knoxville Republican who is co-sponsoring the legislation with Rep. Mark White of Memphis.

“This bill will have a double bottom line, because it will strengthen our workforce of today and the workforce of tomorrow simultaneously,” Massey told the committee.

But several legislators who voted against the bill noted that, while Tennessee’s constitution guarantees “a system of free public schools,” it does not identify child care as a state obligation.

“I worry that this isn’t our role,” said Senate Education Committee Chairman Jon Lundberg, a Republican from Bristol.

He suggested that one reason child care is hard to afford is that the state added regulations in recent years that prompted many small, home-based child care businesses to close.

“Now we come back and say we have a huge problem,” Lundberg said, “and we’ve got to put in $40 million to solve this problem that we created.”

Leaders with Tennesseans for Quality Early Education, which is spearheading the Promising Futures initiative, said a review of regulations is appropriate — but so is a new investment to help children, parents, and employers.

Blair Taylor, the advocacy group’s CEO, noted that a 2022 survey of Tennessee parents with children under age 6 found that 80% reported employment disruptions due to inadequate child care, and nearly a fifth ended up leaving the workforce due to those challenges.

Tennessee legalized sports wagering in 2019 and collects 20% of the gaming industry’s adjusted gross revenues as taxes. Of that, 80% currently goes to the lottery fund used for higher education scholarships, 15% to the state to distribute to local governments, and 5% toward mental health programs.

The Promising Futures bill proposes starting the scholarship program with 60% of sports wagering tax revenues next year, increasing to 70% the following year, and 80% for each year thereafter.

But Lou Hanemann, chief of staff for the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, testified that diverting lottery money would be “devastating” to financial aid programs such as the HOPE scholarship, Tennessee Promise, and Tennessee Reconnect, which helps adults go back to school to gain new skills.

“I would strongly encourage caution in pulling away revenue streams that are coming in and being used directly for scholarship programs currently,” Hanemann told the panel. “This is not a reserve account where money is just kind of hanging out. The earnings off of these dollars directly fund scholarships every term for students.”

Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Democrat from Memphis, pointed out, though, that sports betting is a relatively new revenue stream, beyond the Tennessee lottery created in 1974. She voted for the bill and has signed on as a co-sponsor.

At a legislative hearing in January, Mary Beth Thomas, executive director of Tennessee’s Sports Wagering Advisory Council, reported the state collected more than $68 million in sports betting privilege taxes in 2022, compared with $40.6 million a year earlier.

You can track the bill’s progress on the state legislature’s website.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Bill to ease Tennessee’s third-grade reading and retention law clears first legislative hurdle

2023-03-15T10:00:00+00:00

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education in communities across America. Sign up for our free Tennessee newsletter to keep up with the Shelby County public school system and state education policy.

State lawmakers advanced legislation Tuesday that would put fewer third graders at risk of being held back this year under Tennessee’s 2021 reading law.

The law, which pins retention decisions on how well a student scores in English language arts on the annual Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program test, would be revised to consider results from a second state-approved test, too — but only for third graders who score just under the state’s proficiency threshold on their TCAP.

The legislation also would direct the state Board of Education to develop rules for appealing any retention decision for students who scored as approaching proficiency.

And it would require that any public school student held back in kindergarten, first grade, or second grade undergo tutoring during their following school year.

The House K-12 subcommittee advanced the measure — which was similar to legislation filed last week by House Education Committee Chairman Mark White — after studying a flurry of other bills to revise the law. Parents, educators, and school boards have flooded lawmakers’ offices with complaints about the state’s stricter retention policy, which takes effect with this year’s class of third graders.

Committee members ultimately rallied around the compromise bill that passed on a voice vote. The measure widens reading test criteria for retention but keeps the state, not local educators, in control of those decisions.

The legislation still faces multiple votes in the House and Senate and could put lawmakers at odds with Gov. Bill Lee. The Republican governor pressed for the law and is urging the legislature to stay the course on the state’s literacy strategy.

His strategy draws a clear line in the sand to prevent “social promotions” and includes free tutoring and summer learning camps to help struggling students catch up on learning, as well as options for retesting third-graders who are at risk of being retained.

“Contrary to what critics will say, Tennessee’s reading success plan is about moving kids forward, not holding them back,” Lee wrote in a recent editorial published by The Tennessean.

A spokeswoman for the governor offered no further comment Tuesday night when asked about the bill’s advancement.

But the leader of the state’s largest teacher organization called it a “positive step.”

“Multiple measures are important when understanding student achievement for young children,” said Tanya Coats, president of the Tennessee Education Association. “A year-end test that runs for 180 minutes for 8- and 9-year-olds should not be the only way we understand where students are in English language arts.”

Only a third of Tennessee students read on grade level, according to state testing data. The existing law puts tens of thousands of third graders — and more than 2,700 students in Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the state’s largest district — at risk of being held back this year if they do not take advantage of summer learning opportunities and tutoring.

“We don’t always get it perfect the first time,” said Rep. Sam McKenzie, a Knoxville Democrat, calling the proposed changes an improvement.

Asked by McKenzie what percentage of third graders would be at risk of retention under the proposed changes, the bill’s sponsors could not give an accurate estimate but said there would be an impact.

“There would be more retained if we didn’t pass this bill,” said Rep. Scott Cepicky, a Culleoka Republican, who is carrying the bill in the House for White.

Third grade is considered a critical marker for reading, which is considered foundational to all subsequent learning. But while the law is intended to set children up for success in school, critics say the retention policy could have significant unintended negative consequences by shaming students who are already struggling. And they note that children from low-income families are more likely to be retained in the early grades because they have limited access to high-quality early childhood education and support at home.

Most research suggests that retention has, on average, null or negative effects on students, and that it’s also linked strongly to dropping out of high school.

You can track the bill on the General Assembly’s website. To learn more about Tennessee’s current retention policy, visit the state education department’s answers to frequently asked questions.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Tenn. legislative leader wants to widen reading test criteria for determining third-grade retention

2023-03-07T11:00:00+00:00

A leading House Republican has filed legislation in Tennessee to widen criteria for determining which third graders are at risk of being held back if they aren’t deemed proficient readers.

A 2021 law pins the entire decision on scores from the state’s annual TCAP test given each spring for English language arts. But a proposal filed Monday by Rep. Mark White would consider results from a second state-approved test, too.

Under White’s legislation, third graders who don’t score as proficient on their TCAP could still avoid retention and related learning interventions if they score in at least the 50th percentile on their most recent reading benchmark test. Districts give those assessments periodically throughout the school year to measure students’ reading skills, fluency, and comprehension.

White is seeking to satisfy educators and parents who are unhappy that the state’s new retention policy hinges on scores from a single state test that could impact tens of thousands of third graders this year. However, his proposal would not give authority back to local educators to make the final decision, as called for by numerous school boards, the state superintendents association, and several teacher groups.

At the outset of this year’s General Assembly, legislative leaders said revisiting the controversial reading and retention law was their No. 1 education priority. Lawmakers have filed a flurry of bills with various ideas.

White’s legislation includes components from several of those bills but carries particular sway, because the Memphis Republican chairs the House Education Administration Committee and also sits on a K-12 subcommittee that is deciding which proposal moves forward. The Senate, where Education Committee Chairman Jon Lundberg is co-sponsoring White’s bill, is letting the House take the lead on vetting any proposed revisions.

After holding a legislative hearing last month on Tennessee’s reading problem, White huddled in recent days with other House GOP leaders to try to reach a consensus on how to address local concerns about the controversial law, which Republican Gov. Bill Lee pushed for as a key part of Tennessee’s pandemic learning recovery plan.

The law also created summer learning camps and tutoring programs to support students who are struggling in reading and math and to provide avenues to avoid retention if they don’t test as proficient readers in the third grade, which is considered a critical marker for learning in subsequent grades.

The K-12 subcommittee, chaired by Republican Rep. Kirk Haston, from Lobelville, is scheduled to discuss the various bills on March 14.

In addition to adding benchmark test results to the retention equation, White’s legislation seeks to make clear that a parent or guardian can appeal a retention decision under certain circumstances, or give written permission for their child’s teacher, guidance counselor, or school administrator to file an appeal.

White also proposes a new requirement that any public school student held back in kindergarten, first grade, or second grade be assigned a tutor and undergo tutoring for the entire next school year.

You can read White’s amendment below.

Michigan preschool expansion hits a snag as some providers face funding cuts

2023-03-02T00:21:16+00:00

Last year, as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer touted the expansion of Michigan’s free preschool program, Beverly Hogan was among the child care providers preparing to open new classrooms.

Now Whitmer has announced an even more ambitious expansion of the Great Start Readiness Program, but Hogan had to close her new classroom in February, laying off two teachers and forcing families to search for another option for their 4-year-olds deep into the school year.

The problem? Hogan couldn’t find enough kids.

Only eight students were enrolled in a classroom designed for 16. At the same time, the state ended a pandemic-era policy of paying providers based on their classroom capacity, even if fewer were enrolled. So Hogan would be paid only for children who were actually enrolled, meaning she would lose half of her funding for the classroom this year, or $74,000.

The expansion is “taking away from our business,” said Hogan, director of Busy Minds Child Care Center in Detroit. “I feel they could have waited” to shift back to enrollment-based funding.

Low enrollment might seem like a counterintuitive challenge for a state that researchers say is in the grips of a full-blown child care crisis. Whitmer built her case for GSRP expansion on the premise that tens of thousands of newly eligible middle-income families would jump at the opportunity to enroll their 4-year-olds in free preschool, and that improvements to the program would entice already-eligible low-income families to join.

Indeed, GSRP enrollment grew statewide this year. And in Wayne County, enrollment rose 17% between 2019 and 2023, from 7,468 to 8,777, according to preliminary data shared by county officials.

But Hogan is not alone in struggling to hit enrollment targets, according to providers and early education experts in the Detroit area, who point to a number of reasons. They speculate that some new classrooms opened in areas where demand for GSRP was already met. At the same time, not enough newly eligible families know about the program. And a significant segment of families simply aren’t ready to join GSRP, because the program runs four days a week and only during the school year, leaving gaps in care.

These may ultimately prove to be manageable hurdles on the path to Whitmer’s ambitious preschool expansion goals. Indeed, Whitmer’s budget proposal includes substantial new funding for GSRP, including dollars specifically for publicity and for programming five days a week.

But for providers, these hurdles come at a substantial cost. The funding reductions are hurting child care centers right now, adding instability to a fragile sector that was already struggling with staff shortages and tight profit margins.

It’s an example of how the GSRP expansion can disrupt the rest of the early childhood ecosystem, a phenomenon advocates have warned about for years. The providers facing financial problems related to GSRP also serve children younger than 4 and offer before- and after-school care.

“This is what we’ve been trying not to do,” said Denise Smith, implementation director for Hope Starts Here, a Detroit-based early childhood initiative.

A Whitmer spokesperson did not return a request for comment.

Change in GSRP funding rules was a turning point

Enrollment fluctuations on their own wouldn’t normally be enough to destabilize child care providers. It’s the change in the funding policy that’s creating short-term problems.

For most of GSRP’s history, centers were paid based on the number of students they enrolled. The switch away from that policy dates to the early part of the COVID pandemic, when early childhood providers became the first educators to resume face-to-face work. Even as their return met the urgent child care needs of essential workers, many more parents opted to keep their children home, so enrollment didn’t come close to recovering to pre-pandemic levels.

To help providers stay open, the Legislature agreed to change its funding method for one year. The state would pay them as if they had 16 students in each classroom, or full capacity under GSRP guidelines.

A year later, recognizing that many centers were still struggling with enrollment, the Michigan Department of Education continued a similar policy for another year.

This year, as the pandemic emergency ebbed, the state opted for a full return to enrollment-based funding. At the same time, county officials were working to expand GSRP programming, asking providers across the state if they could add new classrooms.

The timing meant that providers would face the financial effects of any enrollment fluctuations that resulted from the expansion effort. By adding new classrooms, they were helping meet Whitmer’s goals, but they were also taking on substantial risk.

Hogan and other providers whose enrollment remained below capacity faced a cut in funding and had to consider closing classrooms.

“Everything was fine,” until the state changed the funding method, said Shirley Hailey, executive director of Little Scholars of Detroit. “That’s going to mess us up.”

Hailey closed one of her five GSRP classrooms in February due to low enrollment.

In a statement, MDE spokesperson William Disessa said the funding shift was due to the pandemic, not the GSRP expansion. While the Whitmer administration supported the continuation of the pandemic-era policy last year, the idea of extending it for another year “received no further consideration.”

MDE and Wayne RESA, the county education agency that administers GSRP in Detroit and surrounding communities, say they informed providers of the change at the beginning of the school year and gave regular reminders.

But some providers said they had no idea.

Denise Lomax, owner of Child Star Development Center in Detroit, added a classroom this year, bringing her total to three, but says she wouldn’t have done so if she’d known about the funding change. She has been able to fill only two-thirds of her 48 slots and plans to close one classroom.

“In the beginning, I told them, ‘Maybe I should do two classes because y’all have given this to everyone who wants it,’” she said. “They said … ‘Take the three, we’re going to work with you to make sure we get the children.’”

Where to open new classrooms is a complex question

The governor’s proposed expansion of GSRP beyond current income limits should increase both the supply and demand for preschool statewide. In an ideal world, those two variables would be aligned at the local level, with new GSRP classrooms concentrated in neighborhoods with lots of eligible, unenrolled 4-year-olds.

“What we don’t want to do is open a new program that’s going to compete with existing programs for the same 4-year-olds,” said Dawn Koger, director of early childhood for Oakland Schools, a county education agency north of Detroit. County agencies determine which programs receive GSRP funding.

Achieving that balance is easier said than done, Koger said, because existing GSRP programs are located with low-income communities in mind.

The expansion plans are based largely on increasing the income threshold for the program. A family of four making almost $70,000 can now qualify for the program, and Whitmer wants to push the threshold even higher. Given Michigan’s socioeconomic segregation, newly eligible middle-income families might want programs in different places.

Where to add the new classrooms is a difficult question, especially given a lack of current data on where 4-year-olds live and how much money their parents make.

“It would be wonderful if we had new census data every year,” Koger said.

Officials in Wayne County, which includes Detroit, say they studied the distribution of GSRP-eligible 4-year-olds by ZIP code, but ultimately didn’t factor that data into decisions about the new classroom locations, because it was both imprecise and out of date.

Candies Rogers, director of Circle Time with Friends, a center in Redford, says classrooms in Wayne County opened this year in neighborhoods where demand for GSRP was already met.

“When you put so many child care centers in the same area, it is hard to fill those slots up,” she said. “I believe they opened up too many GSRP classrooms.”

One of her classrooms has only eight students, meaning she too will lose about $74,000 in funding this year. She is keeping it open for the rest of the school year, covering the lost funds out of her center’s bottom line.

Koby Levin is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 schools and early childhood education. Contact Koby at klevin@chalkbeat.org.

Bill to clarify Tennessee school library law would exempt classroom book collections from scrutiny

2023-03-01T00:34:44+00:00

When Tennessee enacted a 2022 law requiring each public school to publish a list of its library books online for parents to see, many educators were surprised later when state officials said the law applies to teachers’ classroom book collections, too.

Now two Democratic lawmakers have proposed legislation to clarify that Gov. Bill Lee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act was intended to scrutinize books in traditional school libraries, not collections that teachers keep in their classrooms to encourage reading.

The goal of the proposal, says Sen. Jeff Yarbro, is to shield teachers from having to spend their personal time cataloging their classroom collections, which often include hundreds of books. It’s a task that Yarbro views as burdensome and unnecessary — and which he worries could backfire if exasperated teachers opt to box up their books and take them home to avoid the hassle.

“I am hopeful we can work with folks on both sides of the aisle to remove this absurd burden from our teachers,” said the Nashville lawmaker, who is scheduled to bring his bill before the Senate Education Committee on March 8.

Teachers who are trained to teach children to read should be trusted to provide high-quality, age-appropriate books in their classrooms, Yarbro said.

That’s the way that Alice Irvin sees it, too. A second-grade teacher in Franklin, south of Nashville, she’s taught for 30 years, holds a master’s degree in early childhood education, participates in continuing education, and gets evaluated annually by her district.

“As a highly trained teacher, I find this law insulting,” said Irvin, who has 1,300 titles in her classroom collection. “My library center is the heart of my classroom. Over the years, I’ve purchased hundreds of high-quality children’s books for it.”

Governor called for greater transparency in school libraries

When Tennessee’s Republican governor proposed a review of school library books for age-appropriateness during his 2022 state address, he said the purpose was to “ensure parents know what materials are available to students in their libraries.”

But after the GOP-controlled legislature approved Lee’s proposal, a subsequent memo from the state education department’s attorney said a school library also includes “materials maintained in a teacher’s classroom.”

The law’s expanded scope, announced as the new school year was starting, surprised even lawmakers who had debated the measure just months earlier.

“I serve on several House education committees and don’t recall classroom book collections ever being brought up during our discussions about this bill,” said Rep. Sam McKenzie, a Democrat from Knoxville.

Yarbro said he hopes the department’s decision to interpret the law broadly was not “politically tainted” by recent Tennessee laws that aim to restrict what teachers can teach and students can read, especially related to race and gender.

Sen. Jeff Yarbro is co-sponsoring a bill that would exempt classroom book collections from Tennessee’s 2022 school library law.

Through his bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Darren Jernigan of Old Hickory, he also wants to preempt the challenges of complying with and enforcing the law as it relates to classroom book collections.

“Our early childhood teachers have a hard enough job without the state legislature putting up a bunch of hoops for them to jump through,” Yarbro said. “We’re seeking a common sense solution so that teachers aren’t put in the position of potentially running into legal or compliance issues every time they bring a new book to their classroom.”

“That would just be dumb,” he added.

School leaders have been working on compliance

Last fall, Hamilton County Schools and Murfreesboro City Schools were among several districts that directed teachers to begin cataloging their book collections right away so that schools could publish those lists early in the school year. But most districts spent several months studying the issue and exploring digital tools to help teachers create their inventories.

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools sent guidance over winter break directing teachers to use an online platform called Libib to catalog and publish their lists of classroom library materials by the end of the school year.

“We have not asked any teachers to remove or prohibit access to classroom materials while the cataloging process is ongoing,” said district spokesman Sean Braisted.

Knox County Schools sought feedback from its educators before developing a cataloging app and a process to streamline publication of book lists, with some help from the district’s educational assistants, said spokeswoman Carly Harrington. “We expect cataloging will be completed by March 10, prior to leaving for spring break,” she added.

Other districts, like Irvin’s in Franklin, purchased a scanning app for iPads and used classroom aides to scan books for teachers beginning in January.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools did not respond to multiple requests from Chalkbeat for information about its compliance plan for classroom book collections.

Many teachers and parents haven’t been happy with the process.

“I spent half of my day scanning my library and sorting the books and a good chunk are gone due to them not scanning, being older, etc.,” wrote Natalie Vadas, a special education English teacher at Nashville’s Murrell School, in a Feb. 20 tweet. “How sad that THIS is how we have to spend our time.”

Leslie Wallace said her 8-year-old son came home upset in January when his Knox County teacher announced that students might have to start bringing their own reading books to school because of a new law.

“He loves to read and he said, ‘Mom, if they want us to learn how to read, why are they taking our books away?’” Wallace recounted to Chalkbeat.

“It was a good question,” she said.

To track the legislation, visit the General Assembly’s website.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

58% of NYC’s youngest children don’t receive all of their Early Intervention services

2023-03-01T00:29:38+00:00

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education in communities across America. Subscribe to our free New York newsletter to keep up with NYC’s public schools.

The majority of New York City infants and toddlers who are eligible for specialized therapies have not received all of the support they’re entitled to, according to figures released Tuesday by the state comptroller.

From birth to age 3, children with developmental delays or disabilities are entitled to “Early Intervention,” a host of services that include speech and occupational therapy, or even psychological support.

But nearly 58% of New York City children who were eligible for those services did not receive all of the therapeutic support spelled out on the individualized plans, representing nearly 27,000 children.

That’s significantly higher than the 42% of children who did not receive services across the rest of the state during the period included in the audit, which ran from July 2018 to February 2022. The audit includes data from the onset of the pandemic, when the number of children receiving Early Intervention services dropped and providers attempted to conduct therapies virtually, a challenge for many young children.

The gap in services is particularly acute in the Bronx, where families have long pointed to problems securing Early Intervention services. More than two-thirds of children there did not receive all of the therapies they were entitled to, according to a Chalkbeat analysis, the most of any borough.

“We’re at a point where thousands and thousands of children are waiting for services and in some cases never receiving their services,” said Randi Levine, policy director at Advocates for Children, a group that has pushed for reforms to the Early Intervention system. “We’re seeing statewide systemic violations of children’s rights.”

Children can be referred for early intervention services in a variety of ways, including by their pediatrician, day care provider, caregiver, or even by child welfare agencies. Securing services early on in a child’s development is crucial for addressing delays and disabilities and can head off the need for more complex or expensive special education services later.

“Early Intervention exists because the brain is most malleable in the first three years of life,” Dr. Liz Isakson, the executive director of Docs for Tots, an organization that helps ensure children with delays get connected to services, previously told Chalkbeat.

The comptroller’s figures show that nearly 12% of city students who were referred for services were never evaluated for them (compared with 17% across the rest of the state). Among children who were evaluated, 95% received an individualized family service plan spelling out what support their child needs. But nearly a quarter of city students had to wait longer than the required 30 days for their services to kick in.

The audit points to several factors that can prevent children from getting the services they need. In some cases, provider shortages make services difficult to acquire. Working parents may not be able accommodate sessions during regular business hours.

In other instances, parents may not consent to services, potentially due to stigma or mistrust of government agencies, though the audit urges state and local agencies to better track why so many children are not receiving services and investigate racial and geographic inequities.

“The Department of Health needs to address the underlying reasons why children are not receiving the services they are entitled to, why services are often delayed and how access can be improved,” Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement.

Advocates also contend that one source of ongoing service delays is that providers are continuing to lean on telehealth services even in cases where face-to-face support is needed.

“We’re creating a two-tiered system,” said Betty Baez Melo, who directs the early childhood education project at Advocates for Children. She noted that families in low-income communities have struggled to get access to providers who are willing to provide in-person services and argues the state should create financial incentives to encourage face-to-face services, a move supported by city officials.

The city’s health department, which administers the Early Intervention program, emphasized that children can miss therapies for a variety of reasons, including illness, vacations, or conflicting appointments. In those situations, city officials offer make up sessions, wrote spokesperson Patrick Gallahue.

“The time period of the comptroller audit covers the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented enormous challenges to our Early Intervention Program,” Gallahue wrote. “Still, our staff worked furiously to bring services to families who needed them.”

Health officials also emphasized that gaining consent for services during the pandemic was challenging without a face-to-face conversation, but still sought it through email and text messages.

A spokesperson for the state’s health department, which oversees Early Intervention programs across New York, did not answer a question about the provision of telehealth services in lieu of in-person therapies. Asked about the large share of students who don’t receive all the services they’re entitled to, state officials emphasized that Early Intervention services are voluntary.

“Parents have a right to accept or reject some or all of Early Intervention services recommended for their child at any time, for any reason,” spokesperson Jeffrey Hammond wrote in a statement. “Although the COVID-19 pandemic affected the Early Intervention program, the Department has since worked to strengthen outreach to families.”

Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.

Despite best efforts, NJ needs to do more for low-income kids, report says

2023-02-23T21:02:44+00:00

New Jersey’s Head Start and Early Head Start programs, key partners in the state’s public preschool efforts, have been struggling to keep up enrollment in the face of federal funding limits.

Such is the latest finding from the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, which this month released its report on Head Start and Early Head Start programs in all 50 states.

The report examined the status of the programs across the country and found that “insufficient funding has limited the programs’ ability to deliver these services to all eligible children and families, hampering progress over the last decade.”

And while New Jersey has one of the more aggressive preschool efforts in the country, the report found its federally funded Head Start and Early Head Start programs have not necessarily shared in that success.

In New Jersey, just 33% of eligible children in poverty were enrolled in Head Start and just 11% in Early Head Start in the 2020-21 school year, the report said. Overall, the national average for Head Start enrollment was about 30%. North Dakota had the highest share (56%) and Washington D.C. the lowest (6%).

Deeper dive into the numbers

New Jersey’s lackluster showing may have another explanation, however. The state has its own preschool program for 3- and 4-year-old students in dozens of its poorest districts, but the NIERR report does not factor in those programs, which could be picking up a good share of those Head Start-eligible students.

According to the NIERR report, 24% of 3-year-olds and 41.8% of 4-year-olds overall were enrolled in public early childhood education in New Jersey in 2020-21 — ranking 5th and 20th, nationally. Moreover, New Jersey ranked second in state and other spending for public early childhood education.

But unlike Head Start and Early Head Start, the state Department of Education doesn’t provide preschool enrollment data by family income, so there is no way to know the percentage of eligible infants, toddlers, and children that are enrolled in some sort of program.

Getting a handle on Head Start

The Head Start and Early Head Start programs, first established in 1965, offer child development services for low-income families, focusing on early learning and development, health and wellness, and family well-being and engagement.

Early Head Start provides services for children from birth to age 3 and Head Start preschool services work with children from ages 3 to 5. Eligible families — those that meet the federal poverty requirement — receive these services at no cost.

Yet the programs have struggled in recent years. Nationally, NIEER found that fewer than half of 3- and 4-year-olds in poverty were enrolled in Head Start programs in 2018-19, even before the pandemic. That 41% declined further after COVID-19 struck, all but shutting down their facilities, to just 30% of eligible 3- and 4-year-olds.

“It’s inexcusable that nearly 60 years after its founding, Head Start can’t reach even half the eligible children, even as child poverty hits historic lows,” said Steven Barnett, a senior co-director and founder of NIEER.

In New Jersey, Head Start programs also haven’t made much progress. In 2011-12, 37% of eligible children were enrolled in Head Start, and that fell to the 33% in 2020-21. More than 5,000 fewer children were served in the 2020-21 school year than a decade earlier, said Allison Friedman-Krauss, an assistant research professor at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education and the lead author of the NIEER report.

Friedman-Krauss did credit New Jersey as a national leader overall in its broader approach to early education.

Head Start and Early Head Start are just a small portion of the picture in New Jersey’s public early education. The state’s court-ordered Abbott preschool program ensures 30 high-poverty school districts offer two years of full-day high-quality preschool.

Overall, Gov. Phil Murphy has increased funding for preschool expansion for the past five years. In the current budget for the 2023 fiscal year, Murphy added $68 million in state preschool aid, with $40 million designated to expand preschool into new districts.

With these steps and programs in place, Friedman-Krauss said New Jersey has a lot going for it. In this “mixed-delivery” approach, in which public schools partner with outside organizations or programs like Head Start, she said more children can be served adequately and with quality.

“They can make the Head Start dollars go further by partnering (and) combining those two funding streams, and many of the Abbott districts have been doing this very successfully for 20 or so years,” she said.

The NIEER’s Barnett added, “Governor Murphy takes a giant step toward making New Jersey’s high-quality public preschool program available to every child and family, which will produce benefits for decades to come.”

Representation by race

NIEER also reports variations in enrollment and quality of programs across states by race. Nationally, a higher percentage of Black children are enrolled in Head Start than white children — 33% and 25%, respectively. However, Head Start funding per child is lower in states that enroll a higher percentage of Black children, and performance measures were also lower.

In New Jersey, 34% of eligible Black children in poverty are enrolled in Head Start and 11% of eligible Black children are enrolled in Early Head Start. The proportion of eligible Black children served is the highest of any race in the state. Yet New Jersey’s federal funding per child is among the lowest in the country when adjusted for cost of living.

“There’s an outdated funding formula that’s been used to say how much money goes to each state and the grantees and it hasn’t been updated to reflect the population, the changing population in the states, which is, I think, why we see such an imbalance in the per child funding amounts across the states,” Friedman-Krauss said.

“And New Jersey is on the low side. They’re below the national average, yet they are one of the more expensive states to provide Head Start in.”

More dollars needed

The NIEER report concludes with a simple suggestion: More funding.

In 2020-21, the federal government allocated $10.5 billion across the United States in funds for the program. NIEER indicates that this amount should be more than doubled, estimating that the total funding needed to adequately address the low enrollment and inequalities in access and quality is $22.8 billion.

In part, NIEER recommended additional funding for teachers and staff. While requirements to teach in these programs have been raised, salaries have not. Friedman-Krauss said that this additional funding would allow Head Start to acquire and retain more qualified educators.

“To really bring all the states up, or all the programs up to where they need to be, just requires funding,” she said. “And a big part of that is to push for pay parity for the teachers to attract and retain qualified, educated teachers.”

Leaders at the Gateway Community Action Partnership — which runs Head Start and Early Head Start programs throughout Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Salem, and Mercer counties — say staffing is a big issue and programs started the year understaffed by 25%.

“Programs throughout the state have expressed concerns about staff vacancies and turnover, in large part due to low wages,” said Bonnie Eggenburg, vice president of Head Start and Early Head Start for the Gateway Community Action Partnership. “Compensation for the early childhood workforce, including Head Start, ranks in the lowest 10% of professions.”

She emphasized the need for adequate Head Start teachers that make these child development services effective and beneficial for the children and families enrolled.

“Gateway Head Start staff inspire our families, motivate our children to learn and work every day to provide high-quality early education services to children,” she said. “They are essential to the success of the Head Start program, and essential to supporting a comprehensive, mixed-delivery system for early childhood services in New Jersey. The best way we can equitably serve children and families striving to improve their quality of life is to ensure robust funding and compensation for qualified Head Start educators.”

Michael Pappano is an intern with NJ Spotlight News, where this story was first published. NJ Spotlight News is a content partner of Chalkbeat Newark.

Tennessee looks to ‘Mississippi miracle’ as it grapples with stagnant reading scores

2023-03-01T17:29:52+00:00

Tennessee, which once counted on Mississippi’s worst-in-the-nation reading scores to elevate its own national ranking for literacy, is now looking to its neighbor to the south as a role model for how to improve.

In a turnaround dubbed the “Mississippi miracle,” the state saw its fourth-grade reading scores on a national test rise dramatically between 2013 and 2019, even for historically marginalized groups like Black and Hispanic students. Mississippi also maintained its reading gains in 2022, while scores in most other states declined after the pandemic caused unprecedented disruptions to schooling.

Now under several 2021 laws, Tennessee is employing many of the same tactics that Mississippi did under its 2013 law. Among them: prioritizing reading improvements and investments in grades K-3, training teachers on the “science of reading,” including an emphasis on phonics, and — most controversial of all — requiring third graders to pass a state reading test to get promoted to the fourth grade.

Carey Wright, Mississippi’s education chief from 2013 to 2022, praised Tennessee during testimony Wednesday before state lawmakers in Nashville who are considering whether to make changes to Tennessee’s policies for holding third graders back.

“You are really to be commended for the comprehensive nature in which you’ve approached this topic,” she said, noting that Tennessee has even required its teacher training programs to change how they teach reading instruction, which Mississippi did not.

Wright cited a recent Boston University study finding that Mississippi third-graders who were retained under that state’s law went on to achieve substantially higher scores in English language arts by the sixth grade. The study also found that retention had no impact on other outcomes such as attendance or identification for special education.

But national research about retention is mixed. Critics argue that there are more risks than benefits — from negative social and emotional effects to a disproportionate impact on student groups who are already marginalized, such as those who come from low-income families, are of color, or have disabilities.

Why Tennessee zeroed in on third grade

Literacy is foundational to all subsequent learning, and third grade is considered a critical marker. As the old saying goes: You learn to read up until the third grade, and after that, you read to learn.

But for years, reading scores have been mostly stagnant in Tennessee, with only about a third of the state’s third graders showing proficiency based on state tests.

In 2011, lawmakers passed a retention law to try to address the problem, but the statute was largely unenforced, with few third graders being held back by local school leaders.

“So here we are 12 years later having the same discussion,” said Rep. Mark White, who chairs the House Education Administration Committee and helped pass the state’s new reading and retention policies.

“I personally am grateful that we passed a retention law … because now we have everybody’s attention,” the Memphis Republican said to kick off Wednesday’s hearing.

House leaders have compiled a list of 14 bills that aim to revise or tweak the law. They range from gutting the retention provision altogether to giving local districts more authority to determine which students should be held back. Gov. Bill Lee pressed for the 2021 law and wants to stay the course.

To avoid retention, the law says third graders whose scores on state tests show they are “approaching” proficiency must attend a summer camp and demonstrate “adequate growth” on a test administered at the camp’s end, or they must participate in a tutoring program in the fourth grade. Students who score “below” proficiency must participate in both intervention programs.

Third graders are exempt from retention if they were held back in a previous grade; have or may have a disability that affects reading; are English language learners with less than two years of English instruction; or retest as proficient before the beginning of fourth grade.

Parents also can appeal a retention decision if their child performed at the 40th percentile on a different test that allows for comparisons with national benchmarks, or if the child experienced an event that reasonably impacted the child’s performance on the TCAP test. The appeal can be based on other criteria such as results from locally administered screening tests required by the state.

Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn has shepherded Gov. Bill Lee’s reading improvement plan including Reading 360, an array of programs to train teachers on reading instruction, provide more resources and mentoring networks to school districts, and support families to help their children read better.

Pushback against retention is widespread

While Tennessee’s tutoring and summer learning programs are popular, many parents and educators dislike the part of the law that makes results of the state’s standardized TCAP test for English language arts the only criterion to determine whether third-graders can progress to the fourth grade. Numerous school boards also have passed resolutions urging the legislature to revisit the new retention policy.

On Wednesday, several district superintendents echoed that call.

“I respectfully ask that you allow districts to use multiple data points when making the monumental decision to retain a student, which can have serious long-term consequences,” said Gary Lilly, director of Collierville Schools in Shelby County.

Beyond the state’s test, school districts generally give students multiple assessments that are specifically designed to gauge reading progress. All of those results could be considered, Lilly said, along with other factors such as a student’s overall achievement, attendance record, and emotional and social maturity.

Lilly noted that Tennessee also has among the nation’s highest thresholds for measuring proficiency. The state began working to raise them when a 2007 U.S. Chamber of Commerce report gave Tennessee an “F” for truth in advertising, because its standards were so low that most students were deemed proficient.

But Lilly suggested that Tennessee may want to rethink those high thresholds.

“I am not advocating to decrease the rigor of our standards,” he said. “What I am saying is that the TCAP test should not be viewed as the definitive authority to target students for retention.”

Another concern is the state’s one-year timeline for implementing the new retention policy at scale, affecting third graders who score either “approaching” proficiency or “below basic.” Some district leaders have argued that starting just with the students who score “below basic,” which is Tennessee’s lowest-performing category, would be a more targeted and logistically feasible approach.

Jeanne Barker, director of Lenoir City Schools, said her district won’t receive TCAP results until after the school year ends, leaving little time for students to take the test over or for families to decide about attending summer learning camps or appealing retention decisions to the state education department.

Penny Schwinn, Tennessee’s education commissioner, acknowledged the “tight timeline” but testified that no parent should be surprised by the end of the school year if their child is identified as having a reading deficiency.

“Parents should be receiving notification that their child may be at risk for needing additional supports two times before we even get into testing season,” said Schwinn, adding that preliminary TCAP results will become available the week of May 19.

Advocates look beyond third grade

Policy conversations that began with third grade reading continue to gravitate toward earlier grades.

Wright said Mississippi’s playbook emphasized the importance of literacy instruction and interventions for struggling readers as early as possible.

“My goal was that, by the time third grade came around, there shouldn’t even be an issue around third grade,” she said. “We should have captured those kids a long time ago and made sure that they were getting the interventions and the help that they needed.”

Tennessee education advocates shared similar sentiments.

Nancy Dishner, president and CEO of the Niswonger Foundation supporting students and educators in East Tennessee, said her biggest concern about Tennessee’s current initiative is that “we’re not doing it early enough.”

“We have to move back,” Dishner said. “Birth is when we need to start helping our kids, not when they enter elementary school.”

Amy Doren, a 35-year educator and former coordinator of early childhood programs at Kingsport City Schools, agreed.

“Children’s brains develop 90% to capacity by age 5. So why would we not seek to make an impact in those early years?” Doren asked. “That’s where we want our children to learn to be problem-solvers and critical thinkers, so that when they get to the third grade, they’ll be ready to handle it.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated on March 1, 2023, to add that parents can appeal a retention decision based on the results of locally administered, state-required screening tests; and to clarify that the one-year timeline for implementing the third-grade retention policy “at scale” refers to potentially holding back students in two scoring categories, versus starting just with the lowest-performing category.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

NYC’s DC 37 union reaches tentative contract with bonus and annual raises

2023-02-17T22:12:35+00:00

District Council 37, the union representing roughly 90,000 municipal workers, reached a tentative five-year contract agreement Friday with Mayor Eric Adams’ administration guaranteeing annual raises and a signing bonus.

The preliminary deal, which still needs to be ratified by the union membership, would give DC 37 members — including school cafeteria workers, parent and community coordinators, school crossing guards, and child care workers — a $3,000 signing bonus and four years of 3% annual raises, with a 3.25% bump in the fifth year.

The tentative contract agreement will also set the template for the contracts of other unions currently in negotiations, including the United Federation of Teachers.

For some DC 37 workers, the pay bump represents at least a partial acknowledgment of their crucial work helping keep the city’s school system running during the pandemic, often at far lower wages than other school staffers, union officials said.

“I think this will be a morale booster,” said Donald Nesbit, vice president of DC 37 Local 372, which represents the union’s education department members.

The 3% annual raises are higher than the 1.25% yearly pay bumps Adams laid out in his preliminary budget last month, but may still not be enough to keep up with the pace of inflation, which measured 6.5% last year.

The tentative agreement also sets a minimum $18 hourly wage for DC 37 members. Along with its education department members, the union represents thousands of early childhood education workers, many of whom staff the city-funded prekindergarten and 3-K programs.

DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido said the union represents roughly 1,000 different job titles, with members making as little as $25,000 a year and as much as $200,000.

Parent coordinators, who handle a wide range of responsibilities related to working with students’ families, can earn starting salaries of between $30,000 and $40,000 a year, according to education department job postings.

The municipal labor negotiations come as Adams warns of strong fiscal headwinds, and as billions of dollars in one-time federal COVID relief funds continue to dry up. The higher-than-budgeted annual raises will require the city to come up with new ways to cover the costs.

In addition to the pay increases, the deal sets up a committee to discuss remote and flexible work options for union members, a trust fund to support members with child care costs, and a pandemic response committee to help prepare workers for any future outbreaks.

The annual raises laid out in the DC 37 deal will likely be replicated in contracts with other municipal unions, including the UFT, as part of a system called “pattern bargaining.”

Arthur Goldstein, an English as a second language teacher at Francis Lewis High School in Queens and former member of the UFT’s executive committee, said he would “have a hard time supporting” a UFT deal with the same annual raises because of concerns about inflation and fears of future increases in healthcare premiums.

Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker renews pre-K expansion push with 2024 budget proposing $250 million increase

2023-02-15T10:00:00+00:00

Gov. J.B. Pritzker promised in 2019 to bring universal preschool to all Illinois children after being elected. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Today, he’s picking up where he left off with a budget proposal that adds $250 million to early childhood programs.

“I would have done it in year one if the dollars had been available to do it,” Pritzker said Tuesday in a briefing with reporters. He said enhancing early childhood care and education is a “win-win” that will remobilize the workforce and boost the state’s economy “now and in the decades ahead.”

Pritzker is proposing a four-year plan he’s calling Smart Start Illinois that will create 20,000 additional seats for 3- and 4-year-olds in preschool programs. Just over 76,000 students are currently enrolled in pre-K in Illinois public schools.

Pritzker is seeking a $75 million increase to the Illinois State Board of Education’s Early Childhood Block Grant to create 5,000 new preschool spots for children this coming school year. The Illinois Department of Human Services will receive a $40 million increase for early intervention programs that support children with disabilities under the age of 3, $5 million more for the home visiting program, and $70 million more for the Child Care Assistance Program — which didn’t see an increase in the state’s 2023 budget. That department will also receive $20 million to upgrade its payment system for providers.

Smart Start Illinois includes two entirely new initiatives. The first — a $130 million effort called the Childcare Workforce Compensation Contracts — is aimed at increasing the salaries of child care workers and bringing more educators into the field. The other is a $100 million Early Childhood Construction Grant Program to help child care providers improve building and facilities that they use.

After being re-elected in November, Pritzker said he wanted to make Illinois the number one state for child care access during his second term in office. With the spring legislation session in full swing in Springfield, Pritzker has signaled that early childhood education and child care access for families is his top priority.

Early childhood education advocates are pushing the state to increase funding for early education and child care by 20% — or $120 million — to help increase compensation for workers, who are predominantly women or color, and to address access gaps around the state. The State Board of Education proposed a 10% — or $60 million — increase for the early childhood education block grant in January during a monthly board meeting. Pritzker’s plan would fall in between the two figures.

While some have forecast that a recession or economic downturn will hit the nation’s economy this year, Pritzker said the state’s finances are in a better position to make a larger investment in early childhood education.

The proposed expansion comes amid declining birth rates and after a decrease in enrollment for early learners in preschool and kindergarten in the state. Many parents couldn’t keep their children home because they had to work or didn’t see the need for remote preschool.

Illinois law doesn’t require parents to start sending their children to school until they’re 6 years old, which allows families to keep children at home until they enter first grade.

Pritzker said the state will continue to work with private providers and school districts to create additional seats in preschools and help them market their services. The state also has a bilingual public campaign to attract families with young children.

On Wednesday afternoon, Pritzker will give a budget address and State of the State speech that will highlight his entire budget proposal, including what he wants to spend on K-12 and higher education.

The general assembly must approve a final budget for 2024 by the end of the legislative session later in May.

Correction Feb. 15. 2023: This story has been updated to correct one instance where Smart Start Illinois was referred to as Start Smart Illinois.

Adams creates new City Hall office for child care, early childhood education

2023-02-10T22:19:43+00:00

This story has been updated to reflect Robin Hood’s involvement.

As New York City’s early childhood sector faces upheaval, Mayor Eric Adams announced Friday the creation of a new office to oversee child care and early childhood education.

The new office, which will be housed within City Hall, was months in the making. It’s charged with overseeing strategy and planning with city agencies that touch early childhood education, including the education department and the Administration for Children’s Services, officials said.

The office’s creation comes as the education department’s own early childhood office has faced intense scrutiny over the past several months under Adams’ leadership.

The city has failed to pay preschool providers on time, leading some to shutter, while Adams has shelved plans to further expand preschool for 3-year-olds as some programs have gone unfilled while others are oversubscribed. The shift spurred City Council hearings and backlash from elected officials and education advocates who had supported the push for universal pre-K for 3-year-olds.

Additionally, Chancellor David Banks’ plan last fall to move hundreds of early childhood workers into new positions — which has so far been paused — resulted in chaos and confusion across the division.

At the same time, the city recently announced an ambitious effort to provide preschool seats for every student with a disability, an issue that former Mayor Bill de Blasio was unable to solve.

The new office is meant to help child care providers cut through so-called red tape, according to a statement from Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.

It will be led by Michelle Paige, who was chief program and equity officer for University Settlement, which focuses on creating programs, including daycares and preschools, aimed at fighting poverty and inequality on the Lower East Side and Brooklyn. Paige has also worked for Children’s Aid and was an early childhood teacher at the start of her career, according to city officials.

Asked how many people will work under Paige, a City Hall spokesperson said officials are still developing the office’s structure.

The plan to create this new office was nestled into Adams’ “blueprint” for early childhood education published in June. At the time, officials wrote that the office would create “responsive systems that are centered on parent choice, supporting providers, and delivering high-quality options for families” with support from Robin Hood, an anti-poverty nonprofit organization.

Last April, Robin Hood provided a 21-month, $847,000 grant that is supposed to help hire staff and cover other costs for this project, according to a spokesperson with the organization.

Early childhood education organizations applauded the decision to hire Paige and create a new office to oversee the sector.

“With this new office, we hope to see the long-waited-for thoughtful and effective coordination of New York City’s child care sector, ensuring responsive access and support for the city’s families and child care programs,” said Ramon Peguero, president and CEO of The Committee for Hispanic Children and Families, in a statement.

The idea to create the office is “very much needed,” according to a former staffer of the education department’s early childhood division. It’s important for city agencies to coordinate with each other to pull off successful early childhood education programs, since they intersect with multiple offices, said the ex-staffer, who requested anonymity.

Still, details remained murky.

“Obviously, all of us have read the blueprint, but I dont think it’s super clear,” the former staffer said. “What does ‘reaffirming New York City’s commitment to families’ mean? What does it mean for child care, what does it mean for universal child care?”

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City schools with a focus on state policy and English language learners. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago mayoral candidates promise to raise wages for early childhood educators, but differ on how to do it.

2023-02-09T23:03:53+00:00

Chicago’s mayoral candidates say the city needs to increase wages for early childhood educators, make child care affordable for families, collaborate with local providers and state agencies to make funding easier, and even allow child care providers to move into public schools that are underenrolled.

The candidates detailed how they would reform child care and early childhood education at a forum organized by Child Care Advocates United — a professional organization in Illinois that supports early childhood educators and providers — on Wednesday night. All of the mayoral candidates except incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot attended the session.

Art Norman, a newscaster at NBC5 Chicago, and Tia Ewing, from FOX 32 Chicago, moderated the panel.

The mayor and City Council play a critical role in licensing and funding child care providers. Many candidates have promised to make child care more affordable, with few promising universal preschool for 3-years-olds.

Lightfoot continued rolling out universal preschool to families with 4-year olds in the city, expanding the plan promised by her predecessor Mayor Rahm Emannuel. However, the initiative hit bumps when the city’s early learning chief stepped down in the second year of the rollout and the early days of COVID-19 slowed down the city’s efforts.

Across Illinois, childcare providers are struggling to attract and retain workers, who are often paid less than their elementary schools peers. Parents of young children also struggle to find affordable child care, often comparing the cost to college tuition. The state has increased funding for early childhood education, but advocates say that more can be done.

At the Wednesday forum, candidates offered plans for early childhood education that included increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour for child care providers, taxing cannabis sales and gambling for additional revenue, and working with state agencies to make it easier for all child care providers to receive funding.

All eight candidates in attendance agreed that child care providers need to be paid more.

Ald. Sophia King, who represents Chicago’s south lakefront neighborhood, proposed increasing pay for child care providers and offering incentives such as zero-interest loans for mortgages and dollar lots to prevent educators and child care providers from leaving the city.

King was a part of the push to get the city to increase minimum wage for workers to $15 an hour. Child care providers with more than three employees already have to comply with the city’s rules.

State Rep. Kam Buckner, who represents the city’s South Side in Springfield, said he doesn’t believe there is just a workforce shortage in early childhood education and child care, but an issue of where the city is putting resources. In addition to raising wages, he said the city needs to collaborate with Chicago Public Schools and the city’s community colleges to streamline a pipeline to get more workers into child care centers.

Forum moderators asked the candidates how they would work with state agencies to make accessing funding easier for child care providers and prioritize additional money for community-based organizations. Currently, child care providers in Chicago and across the state get funding from the Illinois State Board of Education, the Department of Human Services, and the Department of Child and Family Services.

U.S. Rep. Jesús Chuy García, whose district includes the city’s south west sides and surrounding suburbs, proposed creating a new city agency to look into early childhood education.

“There isn’t an overarching structure monitoring the status and effectiveness of those services,” García said at the forum. “That is how you wound up last year with the Department of Family Services cutting 4,000 slots that community providers had.”

Neighborhood advocate Ja’mal Green said there is a disconnect between city hall and providers. To fix this, he said he would hire more people from local communities, put mobile city halls throughout neighborhoods, and create resource centers in communities across the city so child care providers could be directed to available resources.

The candidates agreed that the city needs to collaborate with different organizations to ensure families know what options are available for child care.

“It’s about streamlining processes and creating collaboration. We’ve said this a few times tonight, but way too often we’ve created spaces for competition and we need to be creating spaces for collaboration,” said Buckner. “ I think the city has to lead that process and has to lead the conversation.”

Most candidates also said they would use cannabis and casino tax revenue for additional funding to support early childhood education and child care providers who are dependent on state and federal funding to survive.

Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, who released his education plans earlier in the day, said he supports using revenue from cannabis and casino tax revenue and finding ways to tax the wealthy Chicagoans.

“From a corporate head tax to a real estate transfer tax to a financial transfer tax, the ultra rich get to put skin in the game,” said Johnson. “Over 70% of Chicagoans said that the wealthy have to pay their fair share. My budget plan articulates that.”

King and Ald. Roderick Sawyer, whose district covers the city’s south side, agreed that cannabis and casino tax revenue should be used toward education, but noted that the revenue has been marked for other funding.

The city’s gambling and entertainment tax revenue will go to the city’s pension fund for city workers, while the state’s cannabis tax revenue will go to state agencies and community-based organizations to address substance abuse, mental health, legal aid, and housing. Any remaining funds go to the state’s general fund. Sawyer said that if he becomes mayor he would look into changing where the revenue goes.

In the last two questions of the night, the moderators asked mayoral candidates how they would work with the state to address accessibility for families and ensure that they understand their choices for child care and early childhood education.

Former Chicago Public Schools chief Paul Vallas proposed using underenrolled CPS schools as community centers in addition to tax revenues and tax incentives for private child care centers to make child care more affordable for families.

“Give community organizations access to schools,” Vallas said. “You see stories about schools at 20%, 30%, 40%, or less than 50% capacity, and we don’t have room to provide early childhood centers?”

Correction: Feb. 10, 2023: The story has been updated to reflect State Rep. Kam Buckner’s comments.

Colorado to reopen all preschool applications to families because of errors

2023-02-09T00:52:06+00:00

State officials will allow nearly 25,000 families who’ve submitted applications for Colorado’s new free preschool program to reopen them and make changes on them because the application system initially showed incorrect offerings for some preschools.

Families will be notified by email — possibly as early as Thursday or Friday — that their applications have been unlocked and that they can re-rank their five preschool choices or make different choices altogether, said Hope Shuler, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood.

They’ll have until Feb. 14, the last day of the first application window, to make changes and resubmit their applications.

The decision to reopen preschool applications for thousands of parents represents a bump in the rollout of the state’s universal preschool program, which some providers and parents have criticized as rushed and confusing.

Shuler said some preschools participating in the new program didn’t realize they had to list the specific number of seats they have in each category — half-day morning, half-day afternoon, full-day, and so on. Those errors meant that families may have signed up for preschool offerings that aren’t available.

“I’m not placing blame on providers. I’m not taking all the blame on us as a department for not being more specific,” Shuler said. “It’s a new program and there are growing pains.”

The state notified preschools on Jan. 30 that they needed to update their seat numbers by Feb. 6. Staff working for the state have manually made those corrections this week.

Although the errors affected a subset of the nearly 25,000 applicants, she said the department is allowing everyone to make revisions because some parents incorrectly believed it was a first-come, first-served system and rushed through their preschool applications the day the system opened Jan. 17.

Since then, 151 more preschools have signed up to participate, so parents who make revisions now may have more choices than they did the first time.

The new preschool program launches next fall and will offer 10 to 30 hours a week of class time to 4-year-olds and 10 hours a week to some 3-year-olds.

The first application window for universal preschool runs through Feb 14. Families who submitted applications during that window will find out around March 17 what preschool their child was matched with. The state plans to offer a second application window starting Feb. 15, but hasn’t decided on the end date yet.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Whitmer taps surplus for 9% increase in Michigan school spending

2023-02-08T19:00:19+00:00

LANSING — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s new education budget proposal features a boost in per pupil funding for public schools, a new tutoring program, and a broad expansion of state-funded preschool.

The proposal would draw on $18 billion from the School Aid Fund, $74 million from the state’s general fund and $991 million in supplemental, one-time funding for fiscal year 2023. Altogether, it amounts to a 9% increase in state school aid spending over last year’s budget, which education leaders had hailed as a “generational” investment.

“This budget builds on the Get MI Kids Back on Track plan, which offers every student individual tutoring, after-school support, and other personalized learning supports,” Whitmer told reporters after she presented her budget to lawmakers. “There are resources geared toward improving classroom experiences, increasing compensation for educators, and investing in what kids need,” she added.

The governor’s spending request comes amid a record $9 billion state surplus, including $4 billion in the school aid fund.

It’s Whitmer’s fifth state budget, but the first she presented to a Legislature controlled by her own party.

Republican lawmakers said they generally support Whitmer’s most salient education proposals — tutoring and expanded preschool — but have questions about the details and concerns about whether her proposals would be sustainable in leaner times.

“I am a little surprised at how big the budget is, because it has grown tremendously,” said state Rep. Jaime Greene, Republican vice chair of the House Education Committee.

Per pupil funding would increase

Whitmer is proposing that the state raise the base per pupil funding for public schools to $9,608 from $9,150.

For students who receive special education, schools currently receive 75% of the per pupil allowance in addition to required cost reimbursements. Whitmer’s proposal would increase the rate to 87.5%, while keeping the cost reimbursement portion.

A funding decrease for online charter schools

Amid a general funding increase, Whitmer wants fully online charter schools to receive 20% less funding than brick-and-mortar schools.

Other states have similar policies, and the idea has been repeatedly proposed in Michigan, including by former Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican. GOP lawmakers have nixed the idea each year, but it now has a chance of passing.

Experts have long argued that online charter schools have lower costs, because they generally don’t transport students or maintain school buildings. This is harder to prove in Michigan, because many so-called cyber charters are operated by private, for-profit management companies that don’t have to disclose their spending.

“There is no way in the world that a cyber school should be getting full funding per pupil,” said Mike Addonizio, an emeritus professor of education policy at Wayne State University. “They don’t have brick-and-mortar schools to run.”

Charter school advocates criticized the proposal. Amy Dunlap, chairwoman of Public School Options’ Michigan chapter, said in a statement posted to Twitter that it is confounding that Whitmer’s budget “rightly” prioritizes the needs of students still struggling from the pandemic, but cut funding for cyber charter students.

“For thousands of children and their parents, as well as the public school teachers who teach there, these schools have provided a lifeline before, during, and after the pandemic,” Dunlap said.

State Budget Director Chris Harkins told reporters after the budget presentation that the cyber charter cut is “intended to reflect the lack of some of the infrastructure needs that some of our perhaps more traditional schools have.”

Charter schools have funding needs, too, Greene said.

“Cyber schools still have to pay their teachers, still have to purchase curriculum, still have to pay the administration,” she said in an interview on the House floor. “A lot of cyber schools also offer in-person opportunities for sports, and tutoring. … So why would they be punished when per-pupil funding still funds the same things for cyber schools? They’re essentially punishing them for being a cyber school.”

Budget calls for another preschool expansion

Whitmer wants to offer free preschool to every 4-year-old in Michigan within four years. Her budget takes a step in that direction, asking lawmakers to invest an additional $306 million in the state’s Great Start Readiness Program.

The money would allow thousands more children to enroll, expand the program from four to five days a week, and boost funding by 5%, to $9,608 per student, the same as K-12 funding. GSRP funding drew even with K-12 for the first time last year.

Republican state Rep. Nancy DeBoer of Holland agrees that free preschool should be available to more children but isn’t convinced the state should foot the bill for families who can afford it.

Currently, eligibility is based on family income and other factors such as homelessness and disability.

“I don’t think the state needs to pay for everybody at age 4,” said DeBoer, a former teacher and a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on School Aid. “I can understand if people are in difficult situations and don’t have a healthy place for their children, but otherwise, no.”

Greene said Whitmer’s preschool proposal leaves out parents who want to stay home with their children.

“Not all moms want to send their 4-year-olds to preschool. What about opportunities so they can work and also stay with their kids?” asked Greene, who homeschools her own children in Richmond. She suggested state support for job sharing and additional job security for working parents.

Greene also expressed concerns about the educator shortage, which could make it more difficult to staff preschool for all.

Recent expansions of the Great Start Readiness Program have been slowed by teacher shortages, exacerbated by disparities in pay. The $20,000 pay gap between teachers in Michigan’s state-funded preschool program and K-3 teachers is among the largest in the U.S.

“Right now it’s really hard to find staff,” said Amerra Macki, director of A & W Day Care Center, which operates four GSRP classrooms in Detroit. “I would love to see more money so we can hire more people.”

To draw more educators into early education, Whitmer is asking lawmakers for $50 million to assess the problem, expand training programs, and boost recruitment efforts.

Her preschool proposal also includes grants to help new GSRP classrooms open and to help existing programs expand.

Whitmer wants some of this funding to be approved quickly in a supplemental budget bill, rather than waiting for the state budgeting process, which likely won’t conclude for months. Among those proposals is $18 million to expand a pilot preschool program for 3-year-olds.

Budget offers $100 million for teacher recruitment and retention

Districts continue to struggle with a shortage of educators at all grade levels.

To alleviate that, Whitmer is calling for continued investment in the MI Future Educator program created last year. It provides scholarships of up to $10,000 per year for education majors and stipends of up to $9,600 per semester during student teaching. Whitmer budgeted $100 million for the program, up from the current $75 million.

Don Wotruba, executive director of the Michigan Association of School Boards, said his organization supports the investment in teacher recruitment and retention.

“By ensuring that our schools have the funds and talent necessary for excellent learning environments and experiences, Michigan is investing in its future thought leaders and changemakers — our kids,” Wotruba said in a statement.

Whitmer revives tutoring plan to mitigate learning loss

Whitmer will try again to roll out a comprehensive statewide tutoring program. Last year, Republicans rebuffed her $280 million proposal for individualized tutoring but agreed to $52 million in grants that districts could use for tutoring.

Whitmer is resurrecting that proposal and requesting that the state pass a supplemental spending package before spring break that includes $300 million for tutoring.

She first proposed the program after a media collaborative including Chalkbeat, Bridge Michigan, and the Detroit Free Press reported that Michigan, unlike other states, had not provided funding or a structure for a coordinated tutoring program.

Republicans preferred to provide $1,000 per pupil in grants that parents could use for private tutoring and instruction, but Whitmer vetoed that plan in 2021. A different tutoring proposal led by Republicans did not pass out of the House last year.

Greene hopes there will be flexibility in Get MI Kids Back on Track for private tutoring and online programs from vendors.

“Parents should be able to use the funding toward programs like that when their kids need a little bit of a boost,” Greene said.

Literacy and mental health would get more resources

Whitmer’s budget proposal also includes several other spending items, including:

$42 million for literacy coaches at intermediate school districts
$1.2 million for 10 new regional early literacy hubs
$94 million for the Detroit Public Schools Community District for literacy programs; the dollar amount was part of the settlement of a literacy lawsuit that alleged the state denied Detroit students their right to a basic education.
$4 million to get students books and other literacy materials using the Dolly Parton Imagination Library
$300 million for literacy professional development
$300 million for school mental-health staffing and programming to be spent over two years.

Trina Tocco, executive director of the Michigan Education Justice Coalition, said Whitmer’s budget proposal “recognizes that our leaders in Lansing have chronically underfunded our schools for decades, depriving students of the education they deserve.”

But Tocco said the budget doesn’t fully meet the needs of the education system, and state leaders must dig deeper.

“It’s time that our leaders in Lansing start talking about where additional funds will come from, because our kids deserve the investment,” Tocco said.

Free meals for all

Whitmer also proposed to spend $160 million to provide free meals in school for all students and another $1 million to help districts forgive debts that accumulated because of families who couldn’t afford to pay for breakfast and lunch.

The Whitmer proposal comes after a federal program that guaranteed universal school meals for students during the COVID-19 pandemic expired in July.

“We know that kids struggle to learn when they are also struggling with hunger, and ensuring that not a single student in our state has to go to school and face that reality is one of the best investments we can possibly make,” said Robert McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, which represents 123 school districts in the state.

Currently, families must make below 185% of the federal poverty level to qualify for free and reduced priced meals at school. For example, a family of four must make $51,338 or less to qualify for reduced priced meals, and $36,075 or less a year to qualify for free meals.

In Michigan, 581 of the state’s 889 school districts and charter schools qualified for federal support to provide districtwide free school meals, but only 323 of them — or 55.6% of eligible districts — opted in for the school year 2021-22, The Detroit News reported.

Nancy Lindman, public policy and research director for the Michigan Association of United Ways, applauded the proposal on Wednesday as “a good start” to remove “barriers to learning and kids thriving.”

“That is a great investment across the board,” she said. “It’s been tested, it’s been tried in some communities. To take this next step to make sure that we’ve got this universally in place is going to make our state a better place for kids to get an education.”

The next fiscal year begins Oct. 1, but lawmakers typically try to pass the school aid budget by the end of June, because school district fiscal years begin on July 1.

Bridge Michigan reporter Yue Stella Yu contributed to this report.

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Isabel Lohman covers education for Bridge Michigan. Reach her at ilohman@bridgemi.com.

Koby Levin is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 schools and early childhood education. Contact Koby at klevin@chalkbeat.org.

Biden calls for greater mental health care access in schools, limitations on social media companies

2023-02-08T03:40:52+00:00

Calling for increased mental health care access in schools, President Joe Biden pointed to social media companies as one factor contributing to the nation’s mental health challenges during Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

“When millions of young people are struggling with bullying, violence, trauma, we owe them greater access to mental health care at their schools,” he said. “We must finally hold social media companies accountable for the experimenting they’re running on children for profit.”

His comments come as some of the largest school districts in the nation have struggled to hire enough counselors and psychologists during the pandemic. Health officials have warned of a brewing mental health crisis, and schools across the country have sought to bolster access to telehealth and other resources.

Biden’s focus on social media companies follows a pair of lawsuits last month by two Washington school districts, which alleged such companies have fueled a mental health crisis among their students. The schools named giants of the tech industry — like Meta, Google, Snapchat, and ByteDance, the company behind TikTok — in the lawsuits.

Biden called for lawmakers to pass legislation limiting how tech companies can collect data from kids and prohibit advertising to minors.

He also touted other education measures — advocating Tuesday for higher teacher pay and expanded pre-K and higher education access.

Biden has attempted to increase funding for pre-K programs in prior legislation, but those proposals failed to gain traction among Republicans and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.

Research has found some positive signs associated with pre-K programs, with one study noting those enrolled were more likely to graduate high school and enroll in college. Tuesday, Biden said “children who go to preschool are nearly 50% more likely to finish high school and go on to earn a two- or four-year degree, no matter their background.”

“When we made public education — 12 years of it — universal in the last century, we became the best-educated, best-paid nation in the world,” he said. “If you want to have the best-educated workforce, let’s finish the job by providing access to pre-school for 3- and 4-year-olds.”

Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter covering national issues. Contact him at jshen-berro@chalkbeat.org.

Whitmer’s $306 million preschool proposal includes more money to hire teachers

2023-02-08T01:31:26+00:00

LANSING — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is asking lawmakers for $306 million to expand the state’s free preschool program, hire more teachers, and fund student transportation as part of her push for a universal pre-K system.

The plan, which Whitmer will formally pitch Wednesday in her executive budget presentation, calls for $73 million to add up to 5,600 4-year-olds to the Great Start Readiness Program and allow more families to access the free preschool, according to an outline provided to Bridge Michigan by the governor’s office.

Additional spending would help providers address teacher shortages, boost transportation options, and shift to five-day preschool programs, which experts say are hurdles the state must overcome to make the program universal over the next four years, as Whitmer proposed in her recent State of the State address.

Enrollment in Michigan’s state sponsored preschool program is still recovering from pandemic-era declines — about 36,000 of 60,000 slots were filled last year. But Whitmer said last month she wants to ensure all 110,000 Michigan 4-year-olds can enroll by the time she leaves office in 2027.

Under the governor’s new budget proposal, 4-year-olds would qualify for Great Start Readiness if they live in a home with adults who earn 300 percent or less of the federal poverty level or about $79,000 for a family of four.

That would be up from the current 250 percent threshold, and in some instances, families who earn up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level could also qualify, according to Whitmer’s office.

As Bridge Michigan reported last week, experts and educators say universal preschool is good for kids and the economy. A year of childcare now costs nearly $11,000 per year in Michigan, which experts say deters some parents from working.

But building an effective universal program would require hiring teachers to fill classrooms, boosting transportation funding, and expanding offerings to make the program more competitive with day care or developmental kindergarten, Superintendent Michael Rice previously told Bridge Michigan.

Whitmer’s budget proposal begins to address each of those potential hurdles.

It includes $50 million in one-time spending to help school districts hire new teachers and early childhood professionals. The governor also wants $30 million in ongoing funding to create a new tax credit of up to $30,000 for early childhood educators and child care professionals.

“We need to make sure our early educators feel supported to take care of their children and families while they make so many sacrifices for ours,” Whitmer said in a statement, calling them “critical to empowering our youngest Michiganders and helping them get on track for long-term success.”

While Democrats now control both chambers of the Michigan Legislature, their slim majorities mean the governor will seek bipartisan support for her preschool proposals. GOP leaders have supported the Great Start Readiness in the past, but last month questioned the cost and benefits of making it universal.

Whitmer’s plan includes $50 million in one-time funding for startup grants that her office said would help providers open up to 2,000 new classrooms, expanding the availability of preschool across the state.

She is also asking lawmakers for $75 million in one-time funding to help preschool programs shift to a five-day weekly schedule instead of four days.

The plan also includes $18 million in ongoing funding to support transportation of preschool students, along with $10 million in one-time funding for an outreach program to encourage parental enrollment.

Whitmer is set to unveil her full executive budget proposal Wednesday in an 11 a.m. presentation during a joint meeting of the House and Senate appropriations committee.

Return to Bridge Michigan for more coverage.

Jonathan Oosting is a reporter for Bridge Michigan. You can reach him at joosting@bridgemi.com.

Fears flare that Colorado free preschool could shortchange kids with learning delays

2023-02-06T11:00:00+00:00

As state leaders prepare to launch Colorado’s free preschool program next fall, some educators and advocates fear young children with disabilities will lose out under the new system.

They say 3-year-olds could be rejected for a spot and 4-year-olds could receive less preschool than they’re due because of the narrow way the state asks about children with disabilities on its preschool application form.

In addition, school district officials say that unanswered questions about special education funding and confusion over how two state agencies will work together on the preschool program are a troubling sign for a major new program that will start in a matter of months.

While many early childhood advocates and providers have praised Colorado’s plan to significantly expand publicly funded preschool, there’s ongoing concern that the rollout is being rushed.

“I think the [Colorado Department of Early Childhood] was pushed into something very quickly,” said Callan Ware, executive director of student services in the Englewood district south of Denver.

Ashley Stephen, business services director for the Platte Canyon district, said she’s excited about universal preschool, but also nervous because communication from the state “so far has been a little bit harried and a little bit unclear.”

The 7-month-old Department of Early Childhood is responsible for running the new preschool program, with the Colorado Department of Education overseeing some aspects related to students with disabilities. The program will offer 10 to 15 hours a week of tuition-free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide, with some eligible for 30 hours. Some 3-year-olds will be eligible for 10 hours a week.

Despite concerns about how the preschool program is unfolding, there’s no option to slow things down. In the last 2½ weeks, more than 22,000 families have applied for a seat and thousands more are expected to join them in the coming months.

Amid this surge, advocates worry that some children with disabilities, especially those from marginalized populations, could slip through the cracks as their families encounter confusing terminology, bureaucratic barriers, and uncertainty about their rights.

“I support and appreciate the idea of universal preschool programming,” said Pam Bisceglia, executive director of Advocacy Denver, an advocacy group for people with disabilities. “My question is whether those programs are going to be filled with children of parents who enjoy privilege.”

Preschool application poses challenges

Children with disabilities are supposed to get priority for 10 hours a week of class time at age 3 and 30 hours a week at 4.

But Heather Hanson, whose 9-year-old son was diagnosed with a speech delay as a toddler and later with dyslexia, believes the state’s new preschool program will make it even harder than it is now for young children with disabilities to get the help they need.

The universal preschool application is part of the reason. It asks parents if their child has “an active Individualized Education Program” — a fancy name for a federally required learning plan for students 3 and older with disabilities.

But many children don’t get such plans until after they enroll in school. A young child with a delay may not even have been evaluated or received a diagnosis. Even when children are identified as toddlers, their plan has a different name and acronym than the one on the preschool application.

Hanson, who served on a special education subcommittee during the universal preschool planning process, called the wording on the application “horrible” and “discriminatory.”

“All of those really big words should not be used,” she said. Even the word “disability” might deter some parents.

Lucinda Hundley, who heads the Colorado Consortium of Directors of Special Education, said, “We don’t want to miss children because of an answer on a computerized registration system.”

Risk factors change under universal preschool

Currently, Colorado children with disabilities can be routed to state-funded preschool in one of two ways. Those who have Individualized Education Programs get classes through the preschool special education program. Another group of children who have one of 10 risk factors — such as language delays or poor social skills — qualify for a state preschool program that will end after this school year. Kids in that second group don’t have to have a diagnosis or special learning plan to qualify for free preschool.

But under the new universal preschool program, the state will use fewer risk factors to decide who can attend for free at age 3 and get extra hours at age 4. One of them is the Individualized Education Program. The others consider whether the child is homeless, an English learner, in foster care, or comes from a lower-income family.

Hundley said there’s no way for a parent who suspects their child might have a disability to flag their concern when applying for universal preschool.

Officials from the early childhood department and education department said in an email that state law requires the Individualized Education Program criteria on the universal preschool application. Hundley said it’s unlikely the law would disallow additional criteria that might help capture students with potential disabilities.

Several advocates said the wording should be simpler and more general: “Do you think your child could use some extra help?” or “Do you have concerns about your child’s speech or behavior?

Laurie Noblitt, director of elementary and early learning for the Fountain-Fort Carson district, said her district has fielded calls from parents whose 3-year-old children don’t qualify for free preschool according to the application system. They say things like, “I’m really worried about my child’s language, they’re only speaking in one- or two-word phrases,” she said.

In such cases, Noblitt said, the district helps get the child evaluated and into preschool, but she worries about the families who don’t make that phone call.

Three-year-olds whose parents don’t know how to navigate the system stand to lose out on free preschool altogether and 4-year-olds with disabilities could get just 15 hours a week, half what they’re supposed to.

Hanson said those extra hours can make a big difference since students with disabilities sometimes need double or triple the repetition and exposure to classroom learning compared with their typically developing peers.

The low number of hours offered to 3-year-olds also puts a burden on parents, said Elisa Aucancela, executive director of El Grupo Vida, a nonprofit that supports Hispanic families who have children with disabilities.

Her brother, who has a 3-year-old daughter with a disability, is “still struggling due to the part-time [hours] for 3-year-olds” she said. “It’s a really difficult challenge for some families because what are they going to do for the other half of the time when they need to work?”

Special education funding in question

Several school district leaders worry about how the state is handling $33 million that used to go to school districts to help cover preschool special education costs. They fear the money — which amounts to $36,000 a year in small districts like Englewood and up to $4 million in large districts — now will be mixed into the general universal preschool funding pot, and won’t be set aside for services for students with disabilities.

If that happens, districts will have to use local dollars to cover lost state money since they’re legally required to cover special education services. Hundley said that means funding for staff like psychologists and speech therapists who provide mandated services to students with disabilities gets diverted from other district priorities.

Even though state funding for special education has increased in recent years, districts still cover about two-thirds of those costs out of their local budgets.

State officials estimate they’ll spend at least $33 million — and possibly more — on what they call “general education” seats for students with disabilities. But Hundley said school districts want the state to direct that money specifically to special education services, which is how it has been used in the past.

Beyond money, the uncertainty about funding raises questions about how two state agencies — the early childhood department and the education department — are divvying up overlapping responsibilities.

In response to Chalkbeat’s questions about funding for preschoolers with disabilities, the education department first referred questions to the early childhood department. After the two agencies signed an agreement this week outlining how they’d work together, the early childhood department referred questions to the education department. On Friday, the two departments released emailed answers together. Neither granted an interview.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Concern over Tennessee’s third grade reading and retention law prompts flurry of bills

2023-02-03T19:23:09+00:00

Lawmakers have filed at least 18 proposals to try to address concerns about a new Tennessee reading law that could force tens of thousands of third-graders to attend summer school this year to avoid being held back.

Several bills would gut the retention provision altogether, while others would keep the law mostly intact but extend related state-funded summer and after-school programs beyond this year.

Some measures would give authority back to local school districts instead of the state to determine which students should be retained. Others would add measures beyond Tennessee’s annual test for making such a decision. And one proposal would establish a new reading and retention checkpoint even earlier than third grade — making students who are finishing kindergarten take a reading test to determine whether they are ready for the first grade.

All are in response to a controversial law that passed in 2021 during a weeklong special legislative session called by Gov. Bill Lee to address learning disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The same law created summer learning recovery camps that began that year and tutoring programs that started in 2022.

The interventions have proven popular to help students catch up from the pandemic, but the law’s retention provision — which kicks in with this year’s class of third-graders — has sparked pushback and even outrage.

“It’s upsetting, because it feels like they’re punishing our children,” said Leslie Wallace, whose 8-year-old son is in third grade in Knox County Schools. “At this age, a child is going to be extremely discouraged if they’re held back, especially if they started kindergarten during the pandemic.”

The Republican governor pushed for and has stuck by the law, including the aggressive retention policy, which could hold back third graders who aren’t deemed proficient readers based on state TCAP tests administered each spring.

“If you really care about a child’s future, the last thing you should do is push them past the third grade if they can’t read,” Lee told Chalkbeat last fall before easily winning a second term in office.

But now many lawmakers in the GOP-controlled legislature want to take a closer look at the law’s far-reaching implications for third graders, their families, and schools.

“I’m not saying you should never retain a child,” said Rep. Gloria Johnson, a Knoxville Democrat and retired teacher who voted against the law. “But the decision should be made student by student, by their teachers and parents — not because of sweeping legislation that’s based on a single test score.”

Legislators drew a line in the sand

Third grade is considered a critical year for reading because literacy is foundational to all subsequent learning. But reading scores have been mostly stagnant in Tennessee, with only about a third of the state’s third graders meeting the law’s high threshold for proficiency based on state tests.

In 2011, lawmakers passed a retention law to try to address the problem, but the statute was largely unenforced, with few third graders being held back by local school leaders. That set the stage for the 2021 retention provision that, starting this school year, requires third graders to get extra help if they don’t show proficiency on their TCAP test for English language arts.

Backers of the new policy say the law might not be perfect, but they also worry that many Tennesseans don’t fully understand it.

“This was never about ‘fail one test and you’re automatically retained,’” said Rep. Kirk Haston, a Republican who is a teacher, coach, and health education administrator in Perry County. “It’s more about reading identification and providing a lot of supports for students who need help.”

The law says students whose scores on state tests show they are “approaching” proficiency must attend a summer camp and demonstrate “adequate growth” on a test administered at the camp’s end, or they must participate in a tutoring program in the fourth grade. Students who score “below” proficiency must participate in both intervention programs.

Third graders are exempt from retention if they were retained in a previous grade; have or may have a disability that affects reading; are English language learners with less than two years of English instruction; or retest as proficient before the beginning of fourth grade.

Numerous school boards across Tennessee have passed resolutions calling for revisions, though. Among other things, they’ve urged the legislature to let local educators make retention decisions, without giving final authority to the state. And they’ve noted that TCAP is not a reading diagnostic test and, therefore, isn’t the best measure of a student’s reading ability.

But should the line be drawn earlier?

It’s little wonder that the retention rule is controversial — because research is mixed, and holding students back is a controversial policy decision in education.

Supporters say having students repeat a grade can spur additional supports that struggling readers desperately need, and that those academic interventions matter, especially in the early grades.

Critics worry that retention falls disproportionately on student groups who are already marginalized, such as those who have disabilities, are economically disadvantaged, or are of color.

Most research suggests that retention has, on average, null or negative effects on students, and that it’s also linked strongly to dropping out of high school.

The best time to intervene in a student’s progression in school is also under discussion in Tennessee. Increasingly, lawmakers and education advocates are recognizing the importance of also providing interventions for struggling students in kindergarten, first, and second grades — instead of zeroing in on third grade.

That’s where discussion veered this week in a House education subcommittee chaired by Rep. Scott Cepicky, a Republican from Maury County, during an exchange with Reginald Nash, a former Memphis kindergarten teacher who now works for The Education Trust in Tennessee to advocate for education equity.

“The General Assembly should consider revising the law to permit students at risk of retention who opt into reading and tutoring at the beginning of third grade, as opposed to after it, and as early as kindergarten, to be promoted,” Nash told lawmakers. “This approach could possibly be easier to implement, requires less bureaucracy to track, and proactively gets more students into reading tutoring before and during third grade.”

Cepicky, who is co-sponsoring a bill that could delay kindergarten entry for many children and add another retention gate before kindergarten, clearly liked the idea of programs and policies directed toward students before they fall too far behind.

“We have to do something in early education to change the dynamic that we have right now,” he said. “We can’t keep going with the status quo.”

Legislators must sort through revision bills

Before the 113th General Assembly convened last month, revisiting third-grade retention topped most lawmakers’ list of education priorities this year based on feedback from constituents.

The large number of proposals filed by this week’s bill-filing deadlines bore that out as Republican leaders shared their plans for sorting through the barrage of legislation.

Senate Education Committee Chairman Jon Lundberg said Thursday he’ll let the House take the lead in vetting the proposals, with hopes of eventually bringing a consolidated bill before his panel.

In the House, the first focused look is set for Feb. 14, when all of the bills are laid out before an education subcommittee chaired by Haston.

“We’re just trying to get organized,” said Haston, who added that he doesn’t expect votes for several weeks. “We want to get everything on one calendar to see the lay of the land.”

As part of the process, Rep. Mark White, who chairs the full House Education Administration Committee, has scheduled a Feb. 22 hearing to discuss early childhood literacy. Nine legislators are new to his 19-member committee, and White said he wants them to understand the big picture before voting on any potential revisions to the 2021 Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act.

Among those testifying at the hearing, he said, will be a range of literacy experts, from third-grade teachers and school superintendents to Tennessee’s education chief, Penny Schwinn, and education officials in Mississippi, where students improved the most on national reading tests in 2019.

In the meantime, Tennessee schools have been sending out information and hosting meetings with parents of third grade students to inform them about what the law means for their child.

But many parents like Wallace, in Knoxville, are afraid.

“I appreciate the interventions being put in place, but I don’t appreciate the threat that my child could get held back if he doesn’t score high enough on a test,” she said. “I don’t feel like it’s a conducive environment for learning.”

The Education Trust has compiled a list that summarizes and analyzes each retention-related bill.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Tennessee lawmakers propose scholarship program to address child care ‘crisis’

2023-01-30T22:52:13+00:00

With the cost of quality child care often exceeding in-state tuition bills at Tennessee colleges, two lawmakers filed legislation Monday to create a state government program to offer child care scholarships to low- and middle-income families.

Dubbed Promising Futures, the program would use tax revenue from the state’s growing sports betting industry, most of which currently goes into a lottery education fund that supports the popular HOPE and Tennessee Promise college scholarships.

The bill comes after a 2022 study found that Tennessee businesses and taxpayers are losing $2.6 billion annually in earnings and revenue because parents have problems accessing child care.

Those numbers amount to a crisis, say state Sen. Becky Massey and Rep. Mark White, who are sponsoring the legislation.

“Working parents of young children struggle with child care affordability, quality, and access, which affect their ability to work,” said Massey, a Knoxville Republican. “In turn, many businesses are struggling to find employees.”

White believes that Promising Futures can do for early child care access what Tennessee Promise has done for higher education access. Under that groundbreaking initiative created in 2014 under former Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration, Tennessee became the first state to offer its high school graduates a chance at two years of tuition-free community or technical college.

Rep. Mark White, of Memphis, is co-sponsoring the Promising Futures bill with Sen. Becky Massey, of Knoxville.

“Promising Futures is just as important,” said White, a Memphis Republican who chairs a House education committee. “We can help our young families, support early childhood growth, and position our state on the front end to improve our literacy rate.”

Their bill would launch the program in mid-2024, for children through age 5 whose parents’ household income does not exceed the state’s median income (currently $67,708 for a two-person household, $79,719 for a family of three, and $88,095 for a family of four). Also eligible would be children who reside with a foster parent or legal guardian. The state education department would oversee the scholarships and pay funds directly to the program in which a child is enrolled.

The program would capitalize on rapid growth in tax revenue from the sports betting industry.

Tennessee legalized sports wagering in 2019 and collects 20% of the gaming industry’s adjusted gross revenues as a privilege tax. Of that, 80% currently goes to the lottery fund deployed primarily for higher education scholarships, 15% to the state to distribute to local governments, and 5% toward mental health programs.

The Promising Futures bill proposes starting the scholarship program in mid-2024 with 60% of the privilege tax revenue from sports wagering, increasing to 80% by mid-2025. Such a change might also require changes to how the remaining 20% gets allocated.

Other lawmakers have been eyeing that growing pot of money, too. Last year, Rep. David Hawk, of Greeneville, sponsored a bill that would have directed some sports betting tax revenues to local governments to help them deal with the skyrocking cost of school construction. But his measure stalled in committee.

Massey thinks now is a good time to redirect sports betting money toward child care and early education needs.

“The lottery fund has a good reserve, so it’s not going to jeopardize the money needed to (keep) Tennessee Promise a viable program,” she said.

At a legislative hearing earlier this month, Mary Beth Thomas, the executive director of Tennessee’s Sports Wagering Advisory Council, reported the state collected more than $68 million in sports betting privilege taxes in 2022, compared with $40.6 million a year earlier.

Promising Futures is backed by Tennesseans for Quality Early Education, or TQEE, which formed in 2016 to advocate for a strong education foundation from birth to third grade. The group, which has more than 30,000 members across Tennessee, launched a website and petition Monday seeking public support for the bill.

“Child care is crucial to early health and brain development. It’s really in all of our best interests to ensure those child care settings are high quality,” president and CEO Blair Taylor told Chalkbeat.

“With Promising Futures, we’ll not only be helping the workforce of today; we’ll be preparing the workforce of tomorrow,” she said.

TQEE conducted last year’s child care study with support from Zogby Analytics and economist Cleve Belfield. The survey of nearly 1,300 working parents with children under 6 found 80% reported employment disruptions due to inadequate child care. Of those, 26% quit or were fired, 32% turned down a job offer or promotion, and 30% reduced their work hours from full time to part time or were prevented from increasing their hours to full time. About 20% stopped seeking employment altogether.

You can track the bill’s progress on the state legislature’s website.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

17,000 and counting: Families apply for free preschool in Colorado

2023-01-25T22:12:59+00:00

Around 17,000 Colorado families have applied for the state’s free preschool program in the week since the application opened on Jan. 17, a state official announced at a Wednesday meeting.

The early burst of interest in the new preschool program could mean enrollment will exceed the 30,000 children state officials estimated would participate during the first year. The initial application window runs through Feb. 14, though families can still apply after that.

The universal preschool program, one of Gov. Jared Polis’ signature priorities, launches next fall. It will offer 10 to 15 hours a week of tuition-free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide, with some eligible for 30 hours a week. In addition, some 3-year-olds will be eligible for 10 hours a week.

At Wednesday’s online meeting of more than 100 early childhood leaders and advocates,, Michael Cooke, the state’s early childhood transition director, said 2,100 of about 16,800 applications submitted so far are for 3-year-olds.

She described the application’s opening day as a doozy, but said, aside from a brief slowdown early on, “the system managed it beautifully.”

While many families have submitted applications, many have lingering questions about what preschools their children will be matched with. State officials have said children will be prioritized at preschools where they’re already enrolled, where a sibling is enrolled, or where a parent works. But families won’t find out their preschool matches till at least mid-March.

On social media and elsewhere, parents have raised small and large concerns since the application opened. Some have wondered how to ensure their preschoolers continue in dual-language classrooms or get assigned to specific teachers who stay with students for multiple years.

Some parents are upset that they can’t enroll “redshirted” children — those who they plan to hold out of kindergarten next fall — for the state’s free preschool program. (The program is primarily for children the year before they are eligible for kindergarten.)

Cooke said on Wednesday that 1,600 preschool providers across Colorado have opted to participate — with at least one in all 64 counties. That’s a jump from the 1,027 providers that were signed up shortly before the application launched.

Providers will get around $6,000 per child for providing 15 hours a week of class time for the school year. They include schools, churches, child care centers, and state-licensed homes.

Do you have a question about Colorado’s universal preschool program? Let us know at co.tips@chalkbeat.org and we’ll do our best to find an answer.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Preschool suspensions are harmful — and surprisingly common

2023-01-18T19:22:30+00:00

I am a Black woman, a mother of two, a former preschool and special education teacher, and a doctoral student in early childhood education. Although my kids are no longer in preschool, I think back on the experience in their early childhood program with mixed emotions.

My older son was quiet and learned easily the expectations of being in school, while his younger brother did not. Our preschool often expressed how much they loved our family, but comments shared during a period when my younger son struggled revealed a different story. “He just needs more time” — that was the conclusion that my spouse and I arrived at and the message that we communicated with the directors. Unfortunately, they did not share that view.

Tara Kirton

That meant each day was filled with anxiety as I wondered what I might hear about my son from the staff during pick-up or drop-off. I feared what they might suggest or do to reduce the behavior that they found concerning.

The situation was not healthy or sustainable for our family, so we began seeking alternative programs where our son might feel more at ease and where the staff would see his child-like behavior, such as biting and crying, as precisely that, the behavior of a child not yet 3.

Around the same time, our preschool approached us to have him evaluated for special education services. I worried about our son becoming another statistic about a Black boy who “needed” special education when he really needed patience, understanding, and affirmations from the staff. Black children have long been disproportionally represented among special education students and under-referred for gifted programs. But we went ahead with the evaluation, hopeful that we might actually be able to figure out if targeted supports could help him feel more successful.

At the time, I was a graduate student in early childhood and special education, so I knew all too well how Black children and children receiving special education services can be mistreated in schools — including preschools — and how, for example, they face a disproportionate number of suspensions and expulsions, even in early childhood.

I feared what they might suggest or do to reduce the behavior that they found concerning.

Research shows that Black preschoolers, just 18% of enrollment, account for nearly half of all preschool suspensions. And those suspensions, even expulsions, aren’t as rare as you might think.

The National Survey of Children’s Health found that 250 U.S. students a day are suspended or expelled from their preschools. In fact, preschoolers are expelled three times more often than their K-12 counterparts, and Black, Indigenous, and multiracial preschoolers receive a disproportionately high number of suspensions, according to federal data.

Preschool often represents a child’s first educational experience and can set the tone for how children and families interact with educators for years to come. For many young children, it is also the first time they are away from a family member or loved one for an extended period. This experience comes with new expectations to complete with some independence tasks such as toileting, cleaning up after themselves, and self-regulating when they become upset. That’s a lot to ask when you consider how at the age of 3 or 4, a preschooler has only been out in the world for roughly 36 to 59 months.

Things become even more complicated when you consider cultural differences between the family and staff, language delays and other developmental variations, the needs of a child who is an emergent bilingual, and the different expectations at home and school.

Zero-tolerance policies are not interventions; they simply remove children from the learning environment, which doesn’t set them up for success upon their return. Thankfully, some states, such as California, have moved to ban preschool suspensions and expulsions.

Early childhood programs must live up to the promises they make to families to provide a safe and nurturing environment for every child to learn, grow, experience joy, and see themselves reflected in the curriculum. That promise will not be fulfilled if children can be suspended and expelled for “behavioral issues,” both real and imagined, due to ignorance about the practices of various cultures and an inability to recognize how biases impact young children.

As kindergarten approached and my family transitioned out of the preschool, we received an apology from a staff member who admitted they might have rushed to judgment about our son and the best way to support him at the time. While I am grateful that our family’s experience resolved itself respectfully and that our son was able to make friends, learn, and enjoy being a part of the classroom community with the right supports, I sometimes wonder how things might have been different if the program had shown a bit more patience and understanding.

Our younger son is now finishing middle school, and he is thriving in all areas, thankfully. He has always been a curious child, and we are glad to see that hasn’t changed. He no longer receives special education services; those ended right around the time he finished preschool. Our son loves reading, math, and science and knows a lot about many things, such as basketball and geography.

Most days, I can think of the challenging times and the happy times when I reflect on our son’s preschool years. Cognitively, I knew how helpful special education services could be. Still, emotionally, it was a different story and one that was filled with questions about the role of identity in how our son was being treated and why he was being referred.

Families deserve respect, care, and support when working with their preschools to make a decision that is best for their child and family — not one based on biases or a desire for a temporary solution in the form of a suspension or expulsion.

Tara Kirton is a doctoral student in early childhood education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Kirton has held numerous roles in education at the early childhood level and in postsecondary education, including preschool teacher, special education itinerant teacher, and adjunct instructor and fieldwork advisor for undergraduate and graduate students.

Gov. Jared Polis promises to fully fund Colorado schools within four years

2023-01-17T23:33:57+00:00

In Tuesday’s State of the State speech, Gov. Jared Polis promised to fully fund K-12 schools within four years — something Colorado hasn’t done since the Great Recession — even as he also promised major property tax relief and further reductions in the state income tax rate.

Polis also touted the launch of universal preschool this coming August, asked lawmakers to ask voters to keep more money from nicotine sales to expand preschool, pledged support to help high school students earn college credit, and highlighted efforts to boost students’ math skills.

The speech was Polis’ first State of the State of his second term as governor. Colorado will celebrate 150 years as a state in 2026, the last full year of his second term.

In a speech that leaned heavier on housing and health care than on education, Polis framed his goals as creating more opportunity for all by the time the state marks that milestone.

“At 150, I want to see an education system that prepares every child and learners of all ages for success,” Polis said.

In an interview, Polis said he would only support tax cuts that wouldn’t reduce overall state revenue and that his proposals depend on an ongoing strong economy.

“If we’re going to fund our schools and cut taxes at the same time, the overall economy needs to do well,” he said.

Polis included many of the education policies described in the speech in his recent budget requests, including new training opportunities to help workers get in-demand jobs and more money for afterschool tutoring.

Here are a few education highlights from the State of the State speech.

Polis promises to fully fund K-12 schools

What he said: “I am proud to submit a proposal to buy down the budget stabilization factor to its lowest level ever and set our state on a path to finally eliminate it altogether during my second term, fulfilling our state’s commitment to our schools.”

What it means: Colorado’s constitution requires school funding to go up every year by the rate of population growth and inflation, but every year, lawmakers withhold hundreds of millions that should go to schools to help fund other priorities. The practice known as the budget stabilization factor started in 2009-10 and added up to more than $10 billion.

Eliminating the budget stabilization factor is a longtime priority for the state’s education advocates. Lawmakers have reduced the annual withholding but never eliminated it. Last year they held back $321 million out of more than $5 billion in state K-12 funding.

In a budget letter sent Tuesday, Polis proposed a $201 million withholding and saving money to allow for more so-called buy-downs in future years.

In an interview, Polis acknowledged doing so depends on a continuing strong economy. Republicans believe schools could be funded at a higher level if Democrats scaled back other programs.

Colorado schools would get more money per student

What Polis said: “For K-12 learners, I’m proposing in my supplemental and budget amendment package today that we raise per pupil funding by an additional $925 — or an additional $20,000 for [individual] Colorado classrooms every year … Districts can use these funds to increase pay, like the Lake County School District that raised teacher pay by 16% in just one year with a major bump for staff … Or how Colorado’s two largest school districts are starting their teachers at just over $50,000 per year. That would have been unheard of a decade ago.

“These new funds can also support smaller class sizes, revive extracurriculars, or fund mental health support for our students.”

What it means: The governor said in November he wants $861 more per student. Now he’s calling for an additional $64. That money would bring per-pupil allocations to $10,485.

Many Colorado school districts are losing enrollment, so the bottom line would vary from district to district. The legislature could also send more — or less — money to schools than called for in Polis’ budget request.

In the budget letter, Polis said higher per-pupil funding is possible in part because Colorado has 1,600 fewer students this year than expected and is likely to have 2,700 fewer next school year.

School districts can spend the money how they choose, and many Colorado school districts have raised pay. At the same time, inflation has eaten into the value of those raises. A recent study found the price of housing — another priority for Polis and lawmakers — has risen far faster than educator wages.

Property tax relief is a top priority

What Polis said: “We must work together to pass a long-term property tax relief package that reduces residential and commercial property taxes and creates a long-term mechanism to protect homeowners from being priced out of their homes, while protecting school funding.”

What it means: Property taxes, school funding, and the state budget are closely related. Colorado sets per-pupil funding at the state level and backfills whatever local property tax revenues don’t cover. Higher local property taxes means K-12 school funding can go up without putting as much pressure on the state budget.

Last year’s $700 million property tax relief deal was one reason lawmakers held back from fully funding schools then. The deal meant the state needed to backfill more dollars for districts.

Senate President Stephen Fenberg, a Boulder Democrat, said he doesn’t expect a cut to property tax rates to conflict with the governor’s call to increase school funding. Property values have soared and it leaves room for the state to make cuts while still bringing in enough for K-12.

Speaker of the House Julie McCluskie, a Dillon Democrat, said lawmakers need to find ways to both fund education and provide property tax relief.

“We rank in the bottom of the United States, depending on how you slice that metric, as far as funding, and yes, we have to provide property tax relief,” she said. “We have to be talking about both and what that path is forward.”

Free preschool program could serve more children

What he said: “Free preschool will save families at least $6,000 per year and give our children the best possible start in life. This is a monumental achievement and today is the first day families can apply to enroll their children. I’m so excited to share that more than 4,300 Colorado families have already started applying …

“I’m calling for the legislature to refer a ballot measure that would allow Colorado to utilize excess Prop EE funds for preschool, just as the legislature did on a bipartisan basis for excess marijuana funds in 2015. This would give voters the choice to support more services for more children and help lower-income families enroll their child in full-day preschool.”

What it means: The parent application for Colorado’s new free preschool program opened just hours before Polis’ speech.

The program uses money from Proposition EE, a voter-approved nicotine tax, to pay for at least 10 to 15 hours a week of tuition-free preschool for all 4-year-olds statewide, with many students eligible for 30 hours of free preschool. Some 3-year-olds will be eligible for 10 hours as well.

But excess tax collection must be sent back to taxpayers. A ballot measure would ask voters to ensure all of the money the state collects, even above the limit of the 2020 ballot measure, would go to preschool. That could allow the state to pay for more hours and open seats to more 3-year-olds.

Student math skills suffered during pandemic learning

What he said: “The last few years have been tough for our K-12 learners and educators, and those challenges are reflected in test scores, particularly math. To help improve achievement, we are proposing new investments in high-quality math curricula and training to ensure that our educators have the support they need to help all our students thrive. And we are increasing our commitment to high-quality before- and after-school programming.”

What it means: Student math scores declined since before the pandemic, showing bigger decreases than reading. The governor has proposed a one-time $25 million for after-school math tutoring and $3 million for new curriculum. Legislators have also proposed improving teacher training and educating parents on how to help kids with math.

The state has made a long-term effort to boost reading skills, but no such effort exists for math. And so far, no one has proposed that kind of systemic reform or tracking of student skill in math.

Polis proposes more training for workers, free college credit

What Polis said: “The reality is that today’s economy demands access to quick skill acquisition, whether that is a one-, two- or four-year degree, professional training, an apprenticeship, or on-the-job training. We are going to jump-start access to training to help more Coloradans be career ready, earn more, and power our economy.”

What it means: Colorado has a worker shortage. For every two jobs available, there’s only one qualified worker. Colorado also has many adults who could benefit from workforce training and fill those in-demand jobs.

The governor would spend about $70 million to provide free career training in in-demand fields and scholarships to students. The money would help about 35,000 recent graduates and older adults get training in the most in-demand fields like advanced manufacturing, education, law enforcement, and nursing fields.

Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.

Bureau Chief Erica Meltzer covers education policy and politics and oversees Chalkbeat Colorado’s education coverage. Contact Erica at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker promises free college, preschool for all in second term

2023-01-10T02:00:31+00:00

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is promising to expand preschool to all Illinois families and make college tuition free for working-class people by the end of his second term.

In a speech after being sworn in Monday, Pritzker said the state’s “long-term ambitions must begin with a focus on the people for whom we are building.”

“No policy proposal I could advance will have a greater impact on our future than the quality care and education we afford to our very youngest residents,” he said. “It’s time for Illinois to lead.”

The governor didn’t give specifics about how much it would cost to expand preschool and make college more affordable. The inauguration is mostly pomp and circumstance, but in early February, Pritzker is expected to release a budget proposal for the 2024 fiscal year. The legislature must approve a state budget by June 30.

For decades before becoming governor in 2018, Pritzker supported early childhood education through his family foundation. His education platform both in 2018 and 2022 focused on expanding programs that serve children under 5. He has said he would work to lower Illinois’ mandatory school attendance age from 6 to 5.

Chicago began expanding public preschool in 2014 with help from Pritzker’s foundation and Goldman Sachs. In 2018, then-mayor Rahm Emanuel promised universal preschool for all 4-year-olds, which officials now say is a reality.

Many Illinois families struggle with the cost of child care, which has been deemed one of the least affordable among states.

In an interview with Chalkbeat last October, Pritzker said he would once again offer more families financial assistance for child care. Currently, any family earning 225% of federal poverty level income is eligible, up from 185% when he took office. He said he plans to raise that to 300% of the federal poverty level.

Last week, Pritzker visited two early childhood programs — a non-profit in Chicago and a public preschool downstate — to tout investments his administration made during his first term. They claimed to have increased funding by about $1 billion.

But during the first three years of Pritzker’s first term, there were no increases to the Illinois State Board of Education’s early childhood block grant, one the largest sources of early childhood funding. This year, it got a 10% increase to nearly $600 million.

Though he gave no details in his inaugural address, Pritzker said it’s the state’s “obligation to make college more affordable” and said he wanted to “focus on making tuition free for every working-class family.”

The state’s key financial aid program for college students is known as the Monetary Award Program, or MAP. Those scholarships grew to $601 million in the most recent budget. The maximum annual award increased from $6,438 to $8,508. In-state tuition at the University of Illinois this year ranged from $17,000 to $22,000.

Despite increasing costs and declining college enrollment nationwide, Illinois saw a 5% increase in students enrolling in college this fall, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

In his speech Monday, Pritzker also took a moment to acknowledge the victims of gun violence, citing specific high-profile events, including a shooting just before winter break outside Benito Juarez Community Academy High School.

“I’m tired of living in a world where a mass shooting needs a title so you know which one we’re referring to,” Pritzker said, noting that he campaigned on a promise to ban assault weapons. The Illinois legislature is debating a measure during its lame-duck session, which is scheduled to end this week.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that lame-duck session ends this week, not on Monday.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Gov. J. B. Pritzker vows to prioritize access to child care for Illinois families in second term

2023-01-04T20:51:46+00:00

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday he hopes to make Illinois “number one” for child care access during his next term.

After winning a second term in November and heading into a spring legislative session that will determine the state’s early childhood education and child care budget, Pritzker said he intends to prioritize child care to support families throughout the state and provide more funding for child care centers and their workforce.

“There is so much more that we can do to make it easier for young families to access quality child care, and early childhood education,” Pritzker said at a press conference Wednesday at the Carole Robertson Center for Learning’s site in Little Village. “But already our improvements have made a profound change.”

According to Pritzker, prioritizing child care is fiscally responsible and will result in positive outcomes throughout a child’s lifetime.

“It yields a higher high school graduation rate, a higher college attendance rate, greater lifetime earnings, lower health care costs, lower crime rates, and an overall reduction in the need for human services spending throughout the lives of these young children,” Pritzker said on Wednesday.

Access to early childhood education and child care provides children with cognitive and emotional development, improved self-regulation, and improved academic achievement, according to reports cited on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Later in life children who have had access to early childhood education also show improved health outcomes and reductions in crime rates, welfare dependency, and child abuse and neglect, the CDC notes.

Illinois has a number of ways of funding child care and early education across multiple government agencies. One of the largest is through the Illinois State Board of Education’s early childhood block grant.

The state was unable to put additional money into that block grant in the 2020, 2021, or 2022 budgets, primarily due to the economic slowdown spurred by the coronavirus pandemic However, the state was able to increase that budget line by 10% for the state’s 2023 budget.

In addition to the state board of education’s block grant, the state funds early childhood education and child care programs throughout the state’s department of human services. The department of human services supports the state’s youngest learners through its Early Intervention Program, which supports children with disabilities from birth to 3 years old and the Child Care Assistance Program, which helps low-income working families with child care costs.

Early intervention had $7 million in funding restored in the 2023 budget after a cut last year. However, the Child Care Assistance Program, which helps low-income working families with child care costs, did not receive an increase.

During the pandemic, the governor’s administration made it easier for parents who lost their jobs to receive three months of child care while searching for work or in a skills training program. Over the summer, the state increased eligibility for the Child Care Assistance Program by lowering the income limit and expanding benefits, increasing the number of families. Also, child care centers received more funding to retain staff.

Grace Hou, secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services, said Wednesday at the press conference that the state has invested over $1 billion in child care that has reached more than 12,000 child care providers across the state and over 50,000 child care workers.

Pritzker said the state’s investments have funded programs such as the Carole Robertson Center’s Grow Your Own Program Workforce Initiative, which trains community members to be educators. At the press conference, Bela Moté, CEO of the Carole Robertson Center, said the center has hired more than 30 people through the program over the last 15 months.

Pritzker is preparing his budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year where he will make funding requests to the legislature for everything from education to public safety. Lawmakers will ultimately approve a budget in late May or June. However, the state’s budget is uncertain as the economy could be hit by a recession or another economic slowdown.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis budget update: money for workforce development and math instruction

2023-01-04T00:37:47+00:00

Colorado residents could get access to free training for jobs in education, health care, construction trades, and other sectors that have more openings than qualified workers, under an updated budget proposal from Gov. Jared Polis.

Expanded workforce training — including some free college — was among several education proposals from Polis. He also proposed a major expansion of after-school tutoring focused on math and science skills and state money to help employers offer on-site child care.

Polis announced the proposals at a press conference Tuesday. They expand on his November budget request and address areas of growing concern for employers, workers, parents, and education advocates.

Polis, who will be sworn in for his second term next week, said there are more job openings in the state than people qualified to fill them, part of a growing skills gap. Polis wants to spend $70 million over two years providing free training primarily at community colleges to get residents the skills they need for in-demand jobs.

In math, Colorado faces a worsening trend of students falling behind. Polis’ proposal would provide a short-term fix, with $25 million to expand after-school programs focused on science, technology, engineering, and math. The budget would also set aside $3 million in state and federal money for math instructional materials and teacher training — a step toward a longer-term solution.

Tuesday’s announcement adds to the $42.7 billion budget Polis proposed in November. He also proposed updates that include property tax changes, housing relief, and clean energy tax credits.

The November budget included $9 billion next year for K-12 education and $86 million more for student financial aid and college and university operations. Polis’ budget serves as a starting point. Six lawmakers on the Joint Budget Committee will craft a budget proposal for their colleagues in the House and Senate to vote on.

Money would help address a growing crisis

In prioritizing workforce development, Polis hopes to expand on work last year to train more qualified workers.

“Price is a barrier, especially in these challenging professions,” Polis said.

Lauren Larson, Polis’ budget director, said the money would go to address an “arising crisis.” Even doubling the number of high school students with the necessary training wouldn’t meet workforce needs, she said.

And the state has a large pool of older adults who could benefit from training. Colorado is a highly educated state, but many of its low-income residents have trouble getting the education and training they need to get in-demand jobs that pay well. The pandemic has caused fewer residents to attend college or get training, worsening the problem.

To address the labor shortages, lawmakers, education, nonprofit, and business leaders last year released a report on how to spend $100 million in one-time federal pandemic relief money to boost workforce training. Colorado leaders noted that the state would also need to continue investments over the long term.

The $70 million in new state money that would be spent over the next two years would provide free training in early childhood education, teaching, law enforcement, fire and forestry, construction trades, advanced manufacturing, and nursing fields — all experiencing shortages, Polis said.

The governor wants the money to help educate more than 35,000 students and expand short-term community college programs to train more than 250 additional nurses annually, according to a Polis spokeswoman.

The proposal builds off $61 million the state invested last year to train and support health care workers, with about $26 million going to the Colorado Community College System.

The free training has paid for tuition, fees, and books, but students can also use federal and state grants and scholarships to offset living costs like day care, transportation, and other life expenses, Larson said.

Polis wants $25 million to improve math skills

State and national test data shows K-12 students lagging in math skills.

Colorado has made a concerted effort in recent years to improve reading instruction: making sure all early elementary teachers have special training, requiring school districts to update their curriculum, and pushing university programs to give teacher candidates the best practices for teaching reading.

But the state has made no similar push on math instruction — and evidence shows math skills suffered more during remote learning than did language arts. State and national test scores show larger declines in math and slower recovery, with the declines more significant among older students.

Polis’ $28 million for after-school programs and math resources is not on the same scale as the effort Colorado mounted in reading.

Still, he said, “We want to make sure we turn around this trend in Colorado.”.

Polis offers a preschool update

Polis also included $10.5 million to expand work-place child care initiatives. He added that the state will be able to provide more hours of free preschool than originally expected.

The state should be able to provide at least 15 hours of free preschool for families, he said. Low-income families will be eligible for more, he said. The original goal was 10 hours.

Polis included $10 million in his November budget to help with the rollout of universal preschool.

“There could of course be a few areas where because of capacity there’s still 10-hour programs, but in general, most families will be able to benefit from 15 hours of free preschool for their 4-year-olds next fall,” he said. “We’re very excited about getting that right.”

Bureau Chief Erica Meltzer covers education policy and politics and oversees Chalkbeat Colorado’s education coverage. Contact Erica at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org.

La temporada de solicitud para preescolar gratis empieza en enero

2022-12-22T17:21:13+00:00

Read in English.

Muchos padres de Colorado han empezado a seleccionar las escuelas K-12 de sus hijos para el próximo año en plataformas en línea operadas por sus distritos escolares.

Pero ese no es el caso de los padres de niños que estarán en preescolar.

Esto cambió; en años anteriores, los padres podían usar el mismo proceso de solicitud para inscribir a sus hijos de 4 años en programas preescolares de los distritos.

Ahora que el preescolar universal gratuito del estado empezará el próximo otoño, la mayoría de los padres solicitarán el preescolar usando una nueva y separada solicitud en línea que estará disponible el 17 de enero. Las publicaciones y preguntas recibidas por los funcionarios del distrito en medios sociales sugieren que este proceso separado de solicitud y el cambio en el plazo ha confundido a algunos padres de preescolar.

“Están confundidos. No entienden por qué es diferente”, dijo Mackenzie Nickum, que dirige los servicios de inscripción en el distrito Jeffco (donde el periodo de inscripción en K-12 es del 6 de diciembre al 13 de enero).

Todo esto se debe a que el estado está haciendo algo completamente nuevo — este es un programa de preescolar financiado por impuestos de sus contribuyentes y estará abierto a todos los niños de 4 años y algunos más pequeños. El programa nuevo reemplazará un programa de preescolar más pequeño financiado por el estado y que estaba disponible únicamente para niños de familias con pocos ingresos o que tuvieran otros factores de riesgo.

Los líderes de educación en la niñez temprana de Colorado llevan meses trabajando para preparar el programa nuevo, y esto incluye un sistema de solicitud a nivel de estado que asignará a los niños a los proveedores de preescolar participantes que sus padres hayan elegido.

La solicitud será “casi tan fácil como hacer un pedido en Amazon”, dijo Lisa Roy, directora ejecutiva del Departamento de Niñez Temprana de Colorado. “Es un proceso nuevo, pero realmente tomamos en cuenta qué cosas funcionan para los padres”.

El próximo año, todos los niños de 4 años serán elegibles para 10-15 horas semanales de preescolar gratuito en escuelas, iglesias, centros de cuidado y hasta hogares licenciados por el estado. Algunos niños de 4 años serán elegibles para 30 horas semanales, y algunos de 3 años serán elegibles para 10 horas.

Roy dijo que el sistema de solicitud de preescolar del estado les dará prioridad a factores como el deseo de que el niño continúe en el mismo programa en que está inscrito ahora, querer que asista a la misma escuela que sus hermanos, o para conseguir espacio donde trabaja uno de sus padres. Además, no se trata de un sistema “en orden de llegada”, dijo ella, y por lo tanto quienes soliciten primero no tendrán prioridad automáticamente sobre las familias que soliciten después.

Las familias también podrán optar por no aceptar un programa de preescolar si su situación cambia. Por ejemplo, dijo Roy, si un preescolar consigue espacio en la escuela en que sus padres pensaron que su hermano de tercer grado estaría, no están obligados a aceptar el espacio si el estudiante de tercer grado luego asiste a otra escuela.

Algunos distritos escolares de Colorado, incluso Jeffco, han publicado notas en sus páginas web para avisar a los padres que este año la inscripción en los preescolares del distrito no se hará a través de los sistemas de inscripción internos.

De todos modos, hay muchas preguntas.

Una madre publicó en un grupo de madres de Lakewood en Facebook: “Voy a inscribir a mi hija en preescolar, y estoy bien confundida. Espero hasta enero de 2023 para solicitar, ¿y qué pasa si no la aceptan?”

Nickum dijo que las inquietudes de algunos padres surgen porque los espacios en los preescolares de distrito históricamente son altamente codiciados y demasiado pocos en algunos horarios o lugares. Este año, el distrito de Jeffco inscribió unos 2,200 preescolares.

Ella dijo que el próximo año el distrito tendrá más espacios de preescolar, en parte porque el tamaño de las clases subirá de 16 a 20 estudiantes.

En Denver, el periodo de school choice empieza el 13 de enero, cuatro días antes del periodo de solicitud para preescolar.

Priscilla Hopkins, directora ejecutiva de educación temprana del distrito, dijo que el distrito se comunicará con los padres a principios de enero para explicarles que el preescolar no será parte del proceso y que ellos deberán esperar a que la solicitud del estado esté disponible.

Los funcionarios del estado también lanzarán una campaña de información a principios del año.

Hopkins dijo que está sumamente entusiasmada con el cambio a un preescolar universal, pero dijo que la transición es complicada y que todavía se están resolviendo muchos detalles.

Ella espera que Denver tenga suficientes espacios en el preescolar universal para cada familia que necesite uno, aunque no todas las familias obtengan espacio en su programa preferido. Actualmente, el distrito tiene unos 5,400 preescolares.

Ann Schimke es reportera senior en Chalkbeat y cubre temas de niñez temprana y alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un mensaje a aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

How MSCS is trying to get pre-K programs — and preschoolers — back on track after COVID

2022-12-22T12:09:39+00:00

When Jairia Cathey switched from teaching elementary school to pre-kindergarten more than a decade ago, it was a tough adjustment. Some students didn’t know how to hold a pencil or a fork, she recalled. Some didn’t know their parents’ names, or even their own. And some didn’t know how to color.

“I was like ‘what did I get myself into?’” Cathey said. “I thought every child knew how to color.”

But those challenges didn’t come close to what she would experience trying to educate and engage with 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds during the depths of COVID-19 pandemic — or what it would take to try to get them caught up in the aftermath.

When schools closed abruptly in 2020, derailing education for students across Memphis and the country, Cathey, a teacher at Evans Elementary, scrambled to provide virtual learning any way she could think of. She sent parents pictures of worksheets and activities from her classroom. She searched Pinterest for other learning materials. At a certain point, she set up times to visit each of her students at their home, with a face mask on.

(From left) Lisa Patterson and Jairia Cathey have dealt with the challenges of trying to keep their early learners engaged during the pandemic and its aftermath.

“I just had to lay eyes on them, and I know they had to lay eyes on me,” Cathey said. “Even if it was just giving them a pencil or a coloring book or just a hug, I had to do it.”

Plummeting enrollment in MSCS early childhood programs during the pandemic left just a handful of students in her class. When classrooms reopened in the spring, the families of Cathey’s four students decided to keep them learning remotely. And by the time students returned to her classroom after 18 months of distance learning, the few students who came arrived with a severely disrupted preschool experience or having attended no school at all, at risk of falling behind academically, socially, and emotionally.

Now Cathey and co-teacher Lisa Patterson are part of a mobilization across Memphis-Shelby County Schools to get early childhood learning in the district back on track. The effort is focused on the classroom, but it’s also counting on community groups, advertising, family engagement specialists, and multiple offices within district headquarters, with the goal of getting more students enrolled in early childhood programs and making sure they are kindergarten-ready.

The bigger objective: Containing the pandemic’s long-term impact on children and their education in Tennessee’s largest school district, where most students are Black and come from low-income families who were hit hardest by COVID-19.

The task is daunting. After bottoming out at 4,430 in 2020-21, enrollment in MSCS’ pre-K programs has ticked back up to 4,776 this year. But it’s still far below pre-pandemic levels of above 6,000.

Meanwhile, just 32% of students starting kindergarten last school year were considered ready overall, as measured by early reading and math assessments. That’s down from 40% in 2020-21, and 46% before the pandemic.

A 2020 study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that children who are not adequately prepared for kindergarten are more likely to struggle for the rest of their academic career — in later elementary school, high school, and beyond.

“I’ve seen the results of when we get it wrong,” said Divalyn Gordon, a former kindergarten and first grade teacher who has also worked at alternative high schools and now heads MSCS’ early childhood office.

“Those students later drop out of school … they’re making tally marks and counting on their fingers because they don’t know any multiplication facts. They can’t read to learn or comprehend. Those foundational skills are vital for student success as they matriculate through high school,” Gordon said. “That’s why I push so hard for pre-K. We’ve got to get this right.”

Gains from pre-K program follow students into higher grades

District officials have made early childhood education a centerpiece of their strategy to improve the district’s academic performance and recover from the pandemic. Test score data helps explain the emphasis.

The April data shows that even amid steep declines in kindergarten readiness across the district, students who attended MSCS pre-K scored significantly higher in reading, math, and overall readiness compared with those who did not attend.

The same was true for students who are considered economically disadvantaged. And their higher performance followed them into third grade. Students from low-income families who attended a district pre-K program were slightly more likely to be proficient in English and language arts in third grade than those who did not participate in the program, according to the report.

The third-grade performance is critical, because a new state law that takes effect this year requires schools to hold back third-graders who aren’t considered proficient in reading. The law has added pressure on districts to intervene early.

MSCS prioritizes students who come from economically disadvantaged households for pre-K enrollment. But interest in the program dropped off dramatically after COVID hit and instruction went online. And persistent concerns about COVID led many parents to decide it was safer to keep their child at home than to send them to an optional program.

Because of that, Cathey said she is getting her students later, and they’re far behind — academically and otherwise. She has had to adjust her instruction accordingly.

The use of small group instruction in early childhood classrooms has become even more important to catch students up.

Small group instruction has always been a critical piece of early childhood education, but given the delayed progress for some students, it’s more important than ever, Gordon said.

Gordon pointed to Cathey’s classroom as an example: Cathey’s 19 students were divided into four groups based on their skill levels, but named for different colors. On that December morning, Cathey and her co-teacher Patterson circulated through the room, giving individualized attention and instruction to students in each group, depending on what they were working on and what they needed.

At one point, Cathey sat cross-legged on the floor next to one girl, and they talked about a book she was paging through. In another corner of the room, Patterson helped two students completing a spelling puzzle.

“You have to make those real-life adjustments when students don’t get it or don’t have the necessary foundation,” Gordon said.

And if teachers don’t, she said, “those kids fall through the cracks.”

District enlists community partners to boost enrollment

With pre-K enrollment across MSCS recovering slowly, Gordon said, the district is laser-focused on attracting more students to the program.

The district continues to work with the Salvation Army Purdue Residential Facility, a Memphis homeless shelter for women, and the Shelby County Division of Corrections to identify and enroll pre-K-age students who could particularly benefit from early academic intervention, Gordon said.

MSCS has also beefed up its advertising efforts, from billboards to social media ads, Gordon said. “The journey begins with pre-K,” the ads on Facebook and elsewhere in the community usually say. “Get your future scholar started early on their academic journey.”

Meanwhile, it has expanded its family engagement team to a staff of over 100 specialists who are charged with encouraging families who begin the online application process to finish it.

Family engagement specialists also help parents find another location if the school they requested is no longer available. Sometimes that means connecting families with other early childhood education providers in the community, Gordon said.

To ensure quality — the bigger challenge in Memphis, which does not have an acute shortage of child care services — the district requires those providers to follow the same bid process it uses for other services, and beginning this year, administrators visit the campus in person to confirm that best practices are being used in classrooms.

It’s part of a broader district effort, outlined in February by then-Superintendent Joris Ray, to increase community-wide collaboration in early childhood education.

The district has two representatives — Gordon and Angela Whitelaw, the district’s deputy superintendent of schools and academic support — in a community consortium dedicated to improving early literacy. The consortium includes prominent early childhood organizations and child care providers from across Memphis, including the Urban Child Institute, Porter-Leath, Literacy Mid-South, First 8, Next Memphis, and the Hyde Family Foundation, among others.

Since early childhood became a top priority for the entire district, collaboration with other departments across the massive district has also improved, said Detris Crane, director of MSCS Head Start programming.

“The district has realized that these pre-K families are the same ones who come in for K-12, and that the earlier we intervene, the more we can improve outcomes for both children and their families,” Crane said. “I collaborate with everybody in the district now, in every department.

“I used to be on a little island,” Crane said. “Now we’re on the mainland.”

Teachers in Memphis are also dealing with the trauma children have faced due to the pandemic and poverty.

COVID left emotional scars

Beyond the academic fallout, trauma related to COVID and poverty continues to loom large among MSCS students and families, several MSCS teachers said.

Ida Walker, a pre-K teacher at Douglass Head Start in northeast Memphis, said the social and emotional tolls of the pandemic have been the most noticeable among her students.

Many of them “have something going on at home,” said Walker, who’s been a Head Start teacher since 2018. Some lost family members or caregivers in the pandemic. Others’ families have yet to recover from the deep economic consequences of COVID.

Pre-literacy skills remain a large focus in Walker’s classroom. As she read aloud to one small group of students, her co-teacher Tequila Lockett helped two other groups of students draw koala bears as part of the class’ two focuses that week, the letter K and “awesome animals.”

But so are students’ social and emotional needs. Walker has rearranged her classroom to create a “cozy corner” where her students can take time away from whatever they’re doing to regulate their emotions and seek support from Walker or her co-teacher throughout the day.

Walker hopes her students learn how to express and process their feelings. If their social and emotional needs are met now, the rest will come later, Walker said.

“They pick it up fast,” she said with a smile.

For pre-K teachers like Ida Walker, pictured in her Douglass Head Start classroom on Dec. 1, social and emotional engagement is a large focus in the classroom.

Cathey takes a similar approach in her classroom — what she hopes is a “safe haven” from whatever children are dealing with at home. Beyond teaching them early literacy and math skills, she strives to build relationships with students and their families and ensure their social and emotional needs are met.

Cathey and Patterson also try to model caring for one another to their students, so that even if one of them isn’t nearby when a child is struggling, their classmates know to step in. Now, if a student falls or looks sad, Cathey said, their peers are quick to ask, “Are you OK? Can I help you?”

“It is a joy seeing students come in at the beginning of the year, complete blank slates. We introduce literacy. We promote language, math skills, teach them how to take care of themselves, and take care of others,” Cathey said. “When they leave, they’re writing sentences, they’re making words, they’re adding and subtracting, They learn how to work out their feelings, and it’s just so amazing to see them so independent.”

“It’s just so rewarding,” Cathey added. “We’re getting them ready for the rest of their lives.”

This story is the third and final installment of a Chalkbeat Tennessee deep dive into the role early childhood education can play in improving literacy in Memphis and across the Volunteer State. This effort is supported by the Education Writers Association Reporting Fellowship program. Check out the first and second stories of the series.

Samantha West is a reporter for Chalkbeat Tennessee, where she covers K-12 education in Memphis. Connect with Samantha at swest@chalkbeat.org.

Tough year for Michigan schools: A Chalkbeat Detroit year in review

2022-12-20T21:11:43+00:00

The year 2022 was another difficult one for education in Michigan. Educators, parents, and students were still dealing with the academic and emotional turmoil from multiple years of pandemic learning. And there was sobering evidence of just how much work must go into getting students back on track, despite billions of federal relief dollars that were designed to ease that process.

Through it all, the Chalkbeat Detroit team (get to know us here) was there for readers, asking the right questions, digging into the data, cutting through the noise, and helping readers understand what it all means. As the year comes to a close, it’s a good time to look back at what we accomplished.

Here’s a look at the stories (and photos) that reflect our best, most important work of the year on some key topics:

Chronic absenteeism causes alarm

At the end of the last school year in the Detroit Public Schools Community District, nearly 80% of the students were chronically absent. Such a high rate of absenteeism is costly, both financially and academically, and it is hurting efforts to help students recover from the pandemic. This issue isn’t just affecting Detroit. As Chalkbeat reporters Koby Levin and Ethan Bakuli reported, chronic absenteeism is reaching alarming levels across Michigan.

Chalkbeat will be diving even deeper into this issue in the coming year. If you or someone you know is struggling with school absenteeism, or if you’re an educator in a school that is working to get kids to school more consistently, you can fill out this survey or reach out to us at detroit.tips@chalkbeat.org.

A group of kindergarten students run around their after school tutoring class in Ecorse during a lesson on counting. Many Michigan school districts used federal COVID relief funding to expand tutoring programs.

COVID relief cash courses through Michigan

Michigan’s K-12 education system received $6 billion in federal COVID relief funds that were aimed at helping students and staff recover from the pandemic. That’s a lot of cash, and Chalkbeat partnered with Bridge Michigan and the Detroit Free Press to shine a light on how school leaders are spending the money, and whether the money is doing what it was designed to do.

Here’s what we found: Koby teamed up with Isabel Lohman from Bridge to report that while tutoring is a key piece of efforts to accelerate students academically, a lack of state leadership created a patchwork of programs that struggled to address learning loss. As districts invested more money in mental health services for students, Koby’s reporting identified a major challenge: A tight labor market was hampering districts’ efforts to hire additional staff. But they found some help among furry, four-legged friends. Meanwhile, Koby and Ethan wrote about how the COVID aid became a lifeline for financially troubled Michigan districts.

You can read all of our COVID aid spending coverage at this page, including about how the Detroit school district is investing $700 million to address its longstanding facility problems.

Student teacher Destelle Keller embraces Stella Wielopolski, 9, at Willow Run Middle School in Ypsilanti in July. Keller is part of an alternative certification program, one of a growing number that have been created to provide an expedited route to the classroom.

Teacher shortages draw multilevel response

Chalkbeat reporter Tracie Mauriello spent much of the year writing about a teacher shortage many Michigan school districts are experiencing, and what Michigan K-12 schools and colleges are doing to attract more people to the profession. In August, Tracie wrote about alternative certification programs that are providing an expedited route to the classroom, amid concerns about whether the route is rigorous enough. There were also stories about schools that were trying the “grow your own” route to promote teaching as a career, as well as a legislative effort that was supposed to ease substitute teacher shortages by allowing some support staff to become subs. Few took advantage of it.

Voucher-like initiative stalls

Betsy DeVos waded back into Michigan education policy this year by pushing the Let MI Kids Learn voucher-like initiative, which would have given tax credits to donors who contributed to so-called opportunity scholarships to help families to pay for private school tuition, tutoring, or other educational resources. DeVos, who was U.S. education secretary in the Trump administration, has long been a big proponent of school choice, including vouchers.

Backers of the proposal sought to put the initiative to voters in a ballot proposal — sometimes using misleading messaging — but didn’t turn in signatures in time to get it on the November ballot. A plan to have the GOP-led Legislature approve the proposal on its own during the lame duck session that ended earlier this month fizzled, because the state had not yet certified the petitions. Tracie and Koby noted that the proposal’s chances are slim for now, and with Democrats poised to take control of the Legislature in January, DeVos’ influence in the Legislature has dimmed.

COVID roils the classroom

The year 2022 began in the midst of a surge in COVID cases, thanks to the emergence of the omicron variant. The Detroit and Flint school districts canceled in-person classes for most of January, leaving students to learn online. Schools that kept their buildings open struggled with low attendance among students and staff who were affected by the virus. In a team story in January, Detroit Superintendent Nikolai Vitti explained the difficult decisions he had to make. Later in the winter, Chalkbeat reporters in multiple cities, including Detroit, teamed up for a story on how the lingering pandemic was taking a toll on teachers in the classroom.

Early childhood education faces setbacks

Koby wrote several important pieces on early childhood education, including a look at how Detroit isn’t dedicating any of its COVID relief money to early childhood education. He also wrote about a pilot preschool program for 3-year olds that was at risk of ending, and the state’s $100 million plan to open new child care programs. Meanwhile, Chalkbeat co-published a Muckrock investigation that found Michigan’s child care crisis is worse than official statistics suggested.

2022 was another tough year for education, but students and parents were all smiles on the first day of school in Detroit.

Students, parents and teachers speak out

At Chalkbeat, we’re invested in elevating the voices of students, teachers, and parents who have a huge stake in the policy decisions that are made by administrators and lawmakers. In December, we published a question-and-answer piece from Ethan on Perriel Pace, an outspoken student activist who sits on the boards of more than a dozen youth-led organizations. Koby tapped into the joy students feel in elective classes like choir in a back-to-school piece. We highlighted multiple teachers and school leaders in How I Teach and How I Lead features, including an adult educator, the state’s teacher of the year, an art teacher, an English teacher, a principal, and two nutrition leaders. And we published first-person pieces from a Detroit high school student who urged the school district to recognize Pride Month, a Michigan middle schooler who wrote about the need for diverse books, a teen who wrote about social media use, and a teacher who wrote about the importance of school libraries.

Do you have a story to tell (or know someone else who does)? Reach out to us at detroit.tips@chalkbeat.org or lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

Parents’ rights, book bans draw spotlight

Schools in Michigan, and across the nation, were frequently challenged this year by groups advocating for parents’ rights, and groups pushing to ban books that touched on LGBTQ themes and race. The issues heated up during election season, as Koby and Tracie noted in a story that looked at how Michigan school boards were facing a wave of culture war debates. After the election, Koby and Isabel from Bridge wrote an analysis that showed that conservative activists who were pushing parental rights lost far more local school board races than they won.

Students continue to struggle academically

The year brought more sobering data showing just how damaging the pandemic has been for Michigan’s students. Koby, Tracie, and Isabel from Bridge teamed up to write about the results of the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, which not surprisingly found scores were down sharply from before the pandemic. Tracie wrote about an uptick in the number of third graders whose reading scores on the state exam were poor enough that they could be held back (few were), thanks to the state’s Read by Grade 3 law. The disappointment continued this fall with the release of scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which found similar declines in achievement, particularly in Detroit.

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

NYC promises affordable child care to undocumented families through voucher program

2022-12-15T19:03:30+00:00

Next month, New York City will begin providing subsidized child care to low-income, undocumented families, who typically can’t access such services because of their immigration status.

The $10 million initiative, called Promise NYC, is expected to serve 600 children over the next six months, city officials announced Wednesday. It also aims to help the influx of asylum-seeking families from South America who have come to New York City over the past several months.

Because children from undocumented families typically don’t qualify for state or federally subsidized child care, advocates had pushed state lawmakers to expand care for undocumented children earlier this year. But that effort failed.

In the spring, city lawmakers pushed the mayor to include $10 million in this year’s budget expanding childcare for undocumented children. In June, Mayor Eric Adams committed to funding the initative, which would pay for vouchers and “develop a mechanism for families to seek care without compromising the confidentiality of their immigration status,” according to his “Blueprint for Child Care & Early Childhood Education in New York City.”

The city tapped four community-based organizations with “deep ties to immigrant communities in their respective boroughs” to help launch the program: the Chinese American Planning Council in Queens, Center For Family Life in Brooklyn, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation in Manhattan and the Bronx, and La Colmena will help Staten Island families.

The four organizations, which are contracting with the city’s Administration for Child Services, will be responsible for signing up eligible families.

Beginning in January, low-income undocumented families will be eligible to participate in the city’s child care voucher program, which provides free or low-cost child care to families with children ages 6 weeks to 13 years old. (To qualify, they must earn less than 300% of the federal poverty level.) Child care providers — licensed center-based or registered home-based care — will get reimbursed by the community organizations overseeing the program, city officials said.

Many asylum-seeking families residing in shelters are having trouble finding work without access to child care, according to Gothamist.

In a statement, Adams said his plan will alleviate the challenges that come with being a new immigrant.

“Navigating obstacles in a new city and a new country are tough, and coupling those issues with a lack of child care can prevent parents and families from achieving the dream they so desperately set out to achieve,” Adams said.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City schools with a focus on state policy and English language learners. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

NYC’s pre-K program will soon have seats for all children with disabilities who want one, mayor says

2022-12-13T21:43:57+00:00

Mayor Eric Adams committed Tuesday to addressing a longstanding shortage of preschool seats for students with disabilities, with plans to open 800 more of those spots for 3- and 4-year-old children by this spring.

The mayor will boost pay for preschool special education teachers, who typically earn up to $20,000 less than their general education counterparts, officials said. The city will also increase the school day in these programs by an hour and 20 minutes, matching the hours for general education preschool programs.

Adams announced the changes at a press conference in which he sharply criticized the system under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, charging that the lack of access for hundreds of students with disabilities “was just wrong” and meant that New York City’s lauded universal preschool program was never truly universal.

“Children who need it more were receiving less,” Adams said. “That is just dysfunctional at its highest level.”

Schools Chancellor David Banks said the teacher pay disparities were a result of “what happens when you don’t think it’s a priority.”

Universal prekindergarten was regarded as de Blasio’s signature achievement. But advocates criticized his administration for failing to provide seats for hundreds of children with disabilities or adequately paying teachers in those programs. At the end of last school year, about 800 preschool-aged children with disabilities were still awaiting seats, an education department official said at a City Council meeting in September.

For students with disabilities who did get seats, disparities remained. An analysis of the 2019-20 school year found that Black and Asian American preschoolers were less likely to be identified for special education services when compared with their white peers. Black and Latino children who were identified for services were more likely to be placed in settings exclusively for students with disabilities rather than classrooms integrated with students of mixed abilities.

The new plan is expected to help providers open more classes with a mix of students with disabilities and those in general education, officials said. The process of adding 400 new seats is already underway, said Deputy Chancellor Kara Ahmed, who oversees early childhood education. Officials did not say exactly when these seats will open.

The department approved funding increases for 65 community-based organizations that provide special education programs for the city’s youngest learners. The additional money will allow those programs to open new seats, extend class hours for students with disabilities, and boost wages for teachers.

The salary bumps will mean increasing salaries from the current range of $50,000-$58,000 up to a range of $68,000-$70,000, Ahmed told reporters. And doing so will allow existing programs to keep teachers and attract new ones, Ahmed said.

The city has also committed to opening another 400 new seats by sometime this spring.

“We plan to hold the administration accountable for delivering on that promise,” said Randi Levine, policy director for Advocates for Children, a nonprofit organization that has for years pushed for more such seats, during Tuesday’s press conference. “The city has a legal obligation and a moral obligation to do so.”

The plan will cost $130 million during this fiscal year and the next one, and is being paid for using federal relief dollars, a department spokesperson said. The spokesperson declined to say how the city plans to cover funding for those seats once the temporary dollars run out in 2024. That’s a larger question for many education department programs funded by relief dollars, including thousands of new 3K seats the city has opened over the past two school years.

Gregory Brender, policy director for the Day Care Council, said the plan includes positive steps, but noted that his organization wants the Adams administration to raise wages for all early childhood educators working for community-based programs. As of October 2020, these teachers are making the same amount as new public school teachers, even with 20 years of experience, Brender said.

In an interview, Levine noted that under the city’s plan, preschool special education teachers will now be paid as much as a new teacher who works for the education department.

“But every step helps,” she said.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City schools with a focus on state policy and English language learners. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Food insecurity, literacy, and more: Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s early childhood education guide

2022-12-07T11:30:00+00:00

This story is featured in Chalkbeat’s 2022 Philadelphia Early Childhood Education Guide on efforts to improve outcomes for the city’s youngest learners. To keep up with early childhood education and Philadelphia’s public schools, sign up for our free weekly newsletter here.

As any parent, teacher, or administrator will tell you, the success of Philadelphia’s early learners depends on factors inside and outside of the classroom.

For our 2022 Philadelphia Early Childhood Education Guide, we dive deeply into areas both inside and outside the school setting as we continue to explore how to improve outcomes for the city’s youngest learners.

Outside the classroom, we’ll look at the ways hunger can disrupt the education of young children — as well as some local solutions for filling this most basic human need.

Back inside the classroom, we will take stock of the district’s push to have students reading on grade level by the time they finish third grade, an effort that started in 2015 but was interrupted by the pandemic.

Straddling home and school life is the effort to embrace students’ customs and cultural identity in the classroom, a strategy that some researchers believe will create a sense of belonging that translates into better academic performance.

Chalkbeat Philadelphia is one of more than 20 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and economic mobility in the city. Read all our reporting here.

And in our How I Teach feature, we hear from a prekindergarten lead teacher about how to help youngsters who rarely left their homes during the pandemic transition to the school setting.

Check out the stories in the guide below.

Philadelphia invested in early literacy efforts. Is it working?

During November, Mayor Jim Kenney visited several child care centers to highlight what he considers one of his biggest achievements as mayor: making affordable, high-quality early childhood education available to an additional 4,300 students through PHLPreK, an initiative that supplements state and federal programs including Pre-K Counts and Head Start.

The focus on prekindergarten is part of the city’s effort to ensure that all students can read on grade level by the end of third grade. This Read by 4th campaign began in 2015, and has brought together universities, foundations, businesses, and other institutions to emphasize literacy activities in everyday life as well as in the classroom.

As a target on the road to universal proficiency, the Philadelphia Board of Education has set a goal that 62% of third graders will be proficient readers by the 2025-26 school year. Yet while many systems have been put in place to help the city achieve its goal, the results so far have been mixed — at least as measured by standardized test scores.

Read the full story, by Dale Mezzacappa.

Early childhood education programs fight food insecurity in Philadelphia and beyond

Approximately 31% of Philadelphia’s children experienced food insecurity in 2020, up from just over 24% a year earlier, according to Philabundance, which operates food banks in the area as a member of the Feeding America program.

And almost half of principals in a 2020-2021 School District of Philadelphia survey said food insecurity was a “great” or “moderate” challenge. Black and Hispanic/Latino households had higher rates of food insecurity, as did families whose children were still learning English, the district found.

This level of food insecurity can have dire consequences for early learners, who need stability at home and in school settings to thrive.

Read the full story, by Nora Macaluso.

How Philadelphia’s early childhood education programs help kids find strength in their identities

Inside Children’s Village, a 46-year-old nonprofit education center in Philadelphia’s Chinatown, preschoolers look into a mirror and create self portraits, then say which attributes they like best.

The game, called “Mirror, Mirror,” is a favorite of Sim Yi Loh, the family partnership coordinator at the center, whose families are largely first- or second-generation immigrants from East Asia.

“Children as young as six months can point out facial differences and skin color differences,” Loh said. “These activities we brought into the classrooms to boost self-confidence, and this will carry on into their learning.”

“Mirror, Mirror” is just one of several ways Children’s Village tries to embrace the culture, traditions, and customs of its early learners. And helping young children see themselves in the school setting can create a strong sense of belonging, some researchers say, that could help the early learners do better in school.

Read the full story, by Nora Macaluso.

How this preschool teacher adapted for her COVID-era students

For many parents, this year has marked a return to “normal” — with COVID restrictions largely lifted and workplaces open once again.

The transition has been harder for young children. Today’s preschoolers were babies and toddlers during the pandemic lockdowns, and some missed out on early opportunities to be around educators and peers.

“For many of my students, this is their first time in a school or care setting, or even leaving their house” for extended periods of time, said Lyssa Horvath, a lead pre-K teacher at Belmont Academy Charter School in Philadelphia.

To meet students’ needs, Horvath has adjusted her approach. “In addition to the language, math, physical, social, and emotional development that I typically do in my classroom, I’m engaged in a lot more confidence boosting and encouragement than in years before,” she said.

Read the full story, by Gabrielle Birkner.

Philadelphia officials optimistic about early literacy efforts despite disappointing test scores

2022-12-07T11:25:00+00:00

Mayor Jim Kenney had a question for the 30 or so four- and five-year-olds arrayed before him at the Little Einsteins child care center in Germantown just before Thanksgiving.

After reading to them from the book “Our Favorite Day of the Year,” about holidays, food was on the mayor’s mind.

“What do you like to put on top of your pie? I like vanilla ice cream,” he said.

“Pizza!” one little boy shouted.

“Pizza on top of your pie?” the mayor responded in mock disbelief. The little boy giggled.

Soon, it was a free-for-all. “French fries!” “Hot dogs!” “Nuggets!” children shouted.

“Now you’re being silly,” the mayor said, appearing to enjoy every moment as the children basked in the attention.

During November, Kenney visited several child care centers to highlight what he considers one of his biggest achievements as mayor: making affordable, high-quality early childhood education available to an additional 4,300 students through PHLPreK, an initiative that supplements state and federal programs including Pre-K Counts and Head Start.

Just 28.2% of Philadelphia third graders scored proficient or advanced in reading this year on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, or PSSA, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of the state test scores. That is not only a decline from pre-pandemic proficiency of 32.5% in 2019, but more than 10 percentage points below the goal set by the Board of Education for the 2021-22 school year for the district to be on track for its goal of 62%. (In 2020, the state did not administer the PSSA; in 2021, a relatively small share of students took the PSSA due to the pandemic, and officials have warned against comparing those scores to results from other years.)

Overall for grades 3-8, 34.7% of students scored proficient in reading on the PSSA in 2022. That’s below the interim target of 42.5% the district set for 2021-22 in order to stay on track to reach its goal of 65% proficiency by 2026.

Recently released scores from this year’s federally administered National Assessment of Educational Progress for fourth and eighth graders — known as “the nation’s report card” — revealed promising but also worrying signs for Philadelphia’s younger students when it comes to literacy.

While fourth graders’ NAEP reading scores dipped nationwide and in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia’s fourth grade reading scores did not change significantly from 2019, the last time the NAEP test was administered. At the same time, Philadelphia’s fourth graders scored significantly below the national average and the average for Pennsylvania. (NAEP is administered to a representative sample of students, not all of them.)

Despite worrying signs in the data, those working in the field also see encouraging signs.

Donna Cooper, executive director of the advocacy group Children First, called it “amazing” that Philadelphia’s fourth grade NAEP scores in reading “didn’t tank” for 2022 after all the pandemic-related disruptions.

And others point to the foundation for future success in literacy that Philadelphia has put in place recently through a diverse set of initiatives inside and outside schools. “We feel we’re in a much better place than we were seven years ago,” said Jenny Bogoni, executive director of the Read by 4th campaign.

Early literacy efforts focus on coaches and curriculum

The initiative started in the wake of research showing that students reap lifelong benefits if they are reading proficiently when they start fourth grade. A 2012 study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, for example, found that students who do not reach this milestone are four times less likely to graduate high school on time than those who do.

Despite the added pre-K seats in Philadelphia over the last several years, inadequate availability may still be hindering efforts like those to improve early literacy.

About 12,000 children, or nearly half of those eligible for those seats based on family income, still don’t have access to affordable early childhood education, Cooper pointed out.

That could contribute to the reality that despite “tons of effort” after seven years “we’re not seeing movement” on the traditional measures of children’s literacy, she said.

Still, while the percentage of students reaching proficiency on the PSSA has not shown the progress people would like, the share of students scoring “below basic” (the lowest level) on the test did fall across various student subgroups from 2015 and 2019. For example, the percentage of Black male students scoring below basic on the English Language Arts test declined from 46.5% in 2015 to 41.5% in 2019, according to the district.

“We haven’t quite gotten to putting more in the proficient bucket, but we’re bringing up the bottom,” Bogoni said.

Starting in 2019, the district overhauled its early reading curriculum by hewing more closely to the science of reading, said Nyshawana Francis-Thompson, the district’s deputy chief of curriculum and instruction.

This shift in instruction seeks to couple comprehension skills — including vocabulary development, background knowledge, and verbal reasoning — with more explicit phonics instruction, decoding, and phonemic awareness, or the relationship between letters and sounds.

With the curricular shift, “We’re more focused on foundational skills,” said Malika Savoy-Brooks, the district’s chief academic support officer.

The district is also working with local colleges of education to make sure that teachers planning to work in the early grades get more rigorous training in reading instruction. And since 2015, early-grade teachers have received summer training in best practices for teaching reading.

Beyond that fundamental shift in core instruction, the district has also hired literacy coaches recently to work in many schools. Officials have also sought to raise awareness among parents about the importance of exposing them to books from a very early age.

Outside of school, the Read by 4th campaign has enlisted the help of “reading captains.” These are community residents who conduct literacy activities in the neighborhood at libraries, schools, parks and other settings.

Diane Castelbuono, the district’s director of early childhood education, said there is “a small army of reading captains out there engaging friends and neighbors in how to raise a reader, and how families can access the resources they need.”

Separately, the district is working with book publishers and funders to obtain more diverse books, and enhance classroom libraries to make sure most of the books and teaching materials are more culturally responsive to the children in the classroom, who are overwhelmingly Black and brown.

Francis-Thompson said the district is drawing on materials and philosophy from Dr. Gholdy Muhammed, an associate professor at Georgia State University who emphasizes the importance of cultural affirmation and appropriate reading materials to children’s development of literacy skills.

“Significant work has been done making sure there are books in children’s homes, making sure the distribution of children’s books is culturally responsive and in different languages,” Castelbuono said.

While curriculum is important, so is making sure that the teachers of early learners also focus on children’s social and emotional needs, said LaTanya Miller, executive director of the district’s office of academic supports who works on adaptive curriculum for students with disabilities.

And with respect to English language learners, who make up 12% of the district’s students, the district has also gradually shifted its approach to stress that speaking and understanding a language other than English is an asset, not a liability.

Over the past several years, the district has invested in modernizing kindergarten through third grade classrooms to include centers devoted to reading, writing, and LEGOs.

And officials are ramping up other initiatives, including playful learning, in which opportunities for reading and conversation are present in places all around the city, including parks, laundromats, and buses.

The ultimate goal of all these efforts, Francis-Thompson said, is to prepare students to be critical of the world around them and “not just a passive consumer” of information. Beyond just teaching skills, creating literate students is about “accepting them and embracing all that they are in a learning environment,” she said.

As with many other education initiatives, the pandemic has disrupted efforts to improve early literacy. Bogoni said almost two full years of remote learning has taken its toll. But she stressed that the city is now in a better position to make badly needed progress.

“We were feeling we were on the cusp of making good progress as the pandemic hit,” she said. “Now the task is to double down. The foundations are in place that should allow us to move forward in this space of urgency.”

Dale Mezzacappa is a senior writer for Chalkbeat Philadelphia, where she covers K-12 schools and early childhood education in Philadelphia. Contact Dale at dmezzacappa@chalkbeat.org.

Early childhood education programs fight food insecurity in Philadelphia and beyond

2022-12-07T11:20:00+00:00

When teachers at Children’s Playhouse, a pair of child care centers in South Philadelphia, noticed children sneaking school-provided snacks into their book bags to take home, it was a “huge red flag,” said founder and CEO Damaris Alvarado-Rodriguez.

This practice typically happened near the end of the day, leading staffers to believe the children weren’t getting enough for dinner, or eating early enough, to keep them satisfied.

So the center asked families if they’d prefer their kids have an afternoon “supper” rather than a snack, and the answer was yes.

Damaris Alvarado-Rodriguez, Children’s Playhouse CEO, said teachers were alarmed to find children sneaking snacks to take home from the center.

“Some families work long hours,” and between commuting and other responsibilities, children might not be fed until 8 p.m. or later, Alvarado-Rodriguez said. Other families, she added, just don’t have the resources to buy enough food.

The type of situation that unfolded at Children’s Playhouse is part of a broader pattern in the city, according to recent data about food insecurity, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture defines as “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.” Although the pandemic has drawn significant attention to the issue, it’s far from a new one.

This level of food insecurity can have dire consequences for early learners, who need stability at home and in school settings to thrive.

Anna Johnson, an associate professor of psychology at Georgetown University who studies the link between food insecurity and the well-being of young children, said the issue can be linked to other stressors some face in early childhood.

“Children from low-income communities are more likely to experience food insecurity, housing instability, and neighborhood violence,” Johnson said. “It’s really a systemic problem. It’s hard for them to get the resources all kids need for a happy, healthy life.”

In food-insecure households, parents generally make sure the children are fed and go hungry themselves, she added. But such choices end up disrupting and straining parent-child relationships.

“Food insecurity impacts parents’ abilities to be those buffers to the stresses their children experience, which then comes out in what we’re calling child mental health,” Johnson said.

One tangible consequence of that increased stress is that anxious kids aren’t able to concentrate in educational settings, said Seth Pollak, a clinical psychologist with the Child Emotion Research Lab at the University of Wisconsin.

“There’s really good evidence that when children are feeling anxious, it’s really hard for them to listen to the teacher’s instructions or pay attention to the cues their peers are sending,” Pollak said.

By the same token, alleviating child hunger can go a long way toward setting kids up for success, researchers say. And some providers are searching for solutions.

Children’s Playhouse provides meals to 278 students through its various programs.

Pennsylvania programs aim to ease hunger

Children’s Playhouse works across different sectors in Philadelphia by providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner to some 278 children in Head Start, pre-kindergarten, and infant and toddler programs at its two centers. The center also has a social worker on staff to direct families to additional resources.

Children’s Playhouse also partners with Philadelphia to provide Head Start and city-sponsored preschool programs, and works with food bank operator Philabundance to provide meals to the community, Alvarado-Rodriguez said. She’s also started a nonprofit to expand food availability to the community.

Food insecurity isn’t confined to major urban areas. In rural Pennsylvania, the Power Packs Project provides families in 45 schools with ingredients and recipes for low-cost fresh meals.

The 17-year-old project works with schools in the cities of Lancaster and Lebanon to find families who qualify for free and reduced-price meals through school, and enroll them in the program. These families receive packs with a mixture of fresh and shelf-stable groceries and a recipe card.

The recipe is for a meal to feed four people, but the food in the box each week generally provides staples and ingredients for about 10 meals, said Brad Peterson, the project’s executive director.

“It’s all about reducing that meal gap,” Peterson said. “Our mission is to supply kids with food over the weekend so when they go back to school Monday, they’re well fed and ready to learn.”

With the help of Johnson and her Georgetown colleagues, Power Packs — which is looking to expand — has recently started looking into data like changes in test scores to measure the program’s impact, Peterson said. “We’ve really been more focused on short-term outcomes,” he said.

Children’s Playhouse hasn’t measured the success of its food program, Alvarado-Rodriguez said. “We’re working so fast we didn’t stop to collect data,” she said.

Demand for food programs is growing, and recent inflation is a “huge concern” for families, many of whom were struggling to begin with, Alvarado-Rodriguez said. And more broadly, COVID’s disruption of food and other benefits programs hurt families at the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder the most, Johsnon noted.

Children’s Village is working with state and local representatives to expand its food services, Alvarado-Rodriguez said.

“We have received testimonials throughout the pandemic,” and teachers have reported that the program has helped kids in their classrooms, she said.

Children’s Playhouse is looking to expand its food services, as the demand for programs that fight food insecurity grows.

Peterson attributed increased demand for Power Packs to the effects of inflation, but also to the elimination of federal benefits stemming from the pandemic. “We knew there was going to be a wave” of demand this year, he said. “A lot of the feeding programs that popped up during the pandemic have slowly gone away.”

One major change to longstanding nutrition policy during the pandemic was that schools provided free lunches to all students regardless of their household income levels during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. But those federally subsidized universal free meals ended this academic year.

On the other hand, Pennsylvania recently raised the income eligibility threshold for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to 200% of the federal poverty level, making more than 174,000 households eligible for the program. The expansion, which went into effect Oct. 1, “allows us to extend a reprieve to people who may be struggling” to pay for food, Executive Deputy Secretary for Human Services Andrew Barnes said in a September statement.

Philadelphia is also working to fill the gaps. In addition to providing regular meals in school and in after-school programs, the Philadelphia district works with Philabundance and the Giant Food-funded Share Food program to link schools with other resources, a district spokeswoman said.

Aside from such partnerships and official programs, teachers can also play a role on a smaller scale to alleviate children’s stress that’s related to food insecurity, said Pollak of the University of Wisconsin.

“Sometimes if a teacher can find some kind of quiet or stable thing to do” with a child who might be experiencing food insecurity or another form of instability at home, he said, it can make a significant difference. That could mean regularly pulling the child aside during lunch or recess and reading a story or having a snack, or even a group activity for a few children, Pollak said.

He hopes that the events of the last few years drive more research into (and attention to) food insecurity and the consequences it can have for young children. But for now, Alvarado-Rodriguez is driven not just by the need she sees, but by a moral imperative.

“It is disturbing that in parts of Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia, we still have families with children that are going hungry at night and they can’t afford to feed them,” Alvarado-Rodriguez said. “That is something that is unacceptable.”

How Philadelphia’s early childhood education programs help kids find strength in their identities

2022-12-07T11:15:00+00:00

This story is featured in our 2022 Philadelphia Early Childhood Education Guide on efforts to improve outcomes for the city’s youngest learners. To keep up with early childhood education and Philadelphia’s public schools, sign up for our free weekly newsletter here.

The game, called “Mirror, Mirror,” is a favorite of Sim Yi Loh, the family partnership coordinator at the center, whose families are largely first- or second-generation immigrants from East Asia.

In classrooms throughout Philadelphia, educators and others seek to create such cultural ties. The city school district uses Relationships First, a community-building program for pre-K-12 students, to help them explore their identities and articulate what they value about their cultures.

Lessons that include prompts like asking kids to share pictures illustrating something about their culture they value, and reading books about what makes kids special or unique, are designed to spark questions and discussions about valuing identity and accepting others, a district spokeswoman said. The district recently partnered with the Children’s Literacy Initiative to help teachers identify and use anti-racist materials through an $84,000 grant that embeds coaches in classrooms.

“We understand that if students see themselves valued, reflected, and honored in books and learning experiences that we provide them, they’re more likely to learn,” Nyshawana Francis-Thompson, the deputy chief of the district’s Office of Curriculum and Instruction, said in a statement to Chalkbeat.

In 2019, the district adopted a “culturally and linguistically inclusive” curriculum designed to support teaching practices that reflect students’ experiences.

“We are constantly reviewing our curriculum and making adjustments to ensure that we are placing instructional resources and content in front of our students that will build their knowledge of themselves and other people through a culturally respective lens,” Francis-Thompson said.

Kids as young as 3 years old begin to sense that there may be a stigma attached to a particular social group or certain skin tones, hair textures, and body builds, and that’s the time for adults to to step in, said Gabriela Livas Stein, a professor and head of the psychology department at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

“It’s important to be really purposeful in making them have a sense of pride in these different attributes,” she said.

Adults can help by giving specific, positive praise about features, saying things like, “I love your dark skin,” or, “Your hair is so gorgeous,” and exposing kids to books that reflect those statements, Livas Stein said.

Giving kids the “skillset” to handle unkind playground comments while retaining their “sense of optimism” can be tricky, Livas Stein said. “What we know, particularly from younger kids, is this happens a lot with their peers,” she said. “They’re all developing, so they may be saying things that hurt each other.”

There are online tools to help. Livas Stein recommends Sesame Street videos and the website embracerace.org. She added that positive messages about these issues to students — especially students of color — can lead to tangible benefits, such as increased motivation to do well academically.

Forging bonds, finding cultural role models

Grassroots programs that encourage cultural affinity are popping up around the country.

In Boston, a program called Love Your Magic aims to give girls of color a sense of belonging and the confidence they need.

Ivanna Solano, the program’s executive director, said she saw too many girls being told they were “sassy” or “disrespectful,” when “the reality was they were just advocating for themselves.” As a result, a disproportionate number of Black and brown girls are “pushed out” of schools for being disruptive, said Solano, a former teacher.

They’re also getting messages from the media and society in general that make them think they’re not important enough to share their thoughts in the classroom, she said.

It’s important to encourage a sense of belonging early on, Solano said. Adults often think young kids can’t talk about race or social justice at an early age, when in fact “students as young as kindergarten are noticing that,” she said.

Not all efforts to enhance students’ sense of belonging and cultural identity have to be in a strictly academic or school setting.

Love Your Magic offers retreats for girls as young as first grade to learn yoga, meditation, journaling, and other strategies to ease anxiety and improve well-being, Solano said. About 25 girls participated in a summer camp in New York State, she said.

At Children’s Village, which serves Chinese, Indonesian, Spanish-speaking, and other families from across the city, the food program is also multicultural. Kids may have tacos one day, chicken teriyaki the next, and curry the following day. Children often find comfort in the similarities of different cuisines, said Loh. They’ll often have bonding moments like, “Oh, you have rice too?” she said.

Of the 450 children who attend the Children’s Village preschool or one of its school-age programs, 60% come from non-English-speaking families, she said. And many Children’s Village families are first or second-generation immigrants from East Asia, Loh said.

In the name of assimilation, some parents want their children to speak only English, meaning they might lose the language their family speaks at home in the process.

“We say: It’s OK to embrace and keep the home language so you can continue to communicate with your child,” she said.

The center helps parents plan for their children’s education, helping them through an application process that can be stressful and complicated even for native Philadelphians, Loh said. The kids are also prepared socially and emotionally, as they’re taught skills such as how to make friends and how to pay attention, she said.

The nearby Chinatown Learning Center embraces a similar philosophy, encouraging preschoolers to learn English while retaining their Chinese language skills and cultural identity.

The preschool offers bilingual education and aims to prepare children and their parents for success in elementary school and beyond.

“They have teachers that look like them” and speak their language as well as English, said Carol Wong, the center’s director. “It is really important that they connect with, identify with, and have role models that look like them.”

Her students were babies during lockdown. Here’s how that’s changed her approach.

2022-12-07T11:00:00+00:00

For many parents, this year has marked a return to “normal” — with COVID restrictions largely lifted and workplaces open once again.

This is Horvath’s first year at Belmont Academy, but she has taught preschool for more than a decade. She’s also a policy fellow with Teach Plus Pennsylvania, a mentor teacher, and a preschool curriculum developer. Horvath spoke recently with Chalkbeat Philadelphia about teaching preschoolers to share, common misconceptions about early learners, and how young children use behavior to communicate their needs.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Why did you decide to become a preschool teacher?

I didn’t choose preschool, preschool chose me. I thought I wanted to be a middle school English Language Arts teacher, and that is what my original certification is in. However, my first job was a summer position at Merritt Academy in Virginia, teaching across age levels. When September approached, I was asked if I wanted to stay on as a lead teacher in a pre-K 3 classroom, which I happily accepted. After one year, I knew early childhood education was the place for me. Guiding so much important brain, social, and emotional development is a huge responsibility, and I get to do it with curiosity, joy, and laughter every day.

What’s your favorite lesson to teach and why?

I love lessons that focus on social and emotional skills, helping children manage emotions, establish relationships, set goals, and make responsible decisions. One of my favorite lessons to do around the December holidays centers on the story about sharing, “Rainbow Fish” by Marcus Pfister. After reading the book, I give each child a sheet of shiny fish stickers and ask what we should do with them. A choir of voices usually responds with “share them!” We take a few minutes to stand up and put our stickers on our friends, laughing and giggling the whole time. As you can imagine, by the end of the lesson everyone is covered in their peer’s stickers.

I conclude the lesson by discussing how it feels to share and give something to someone else and how it felt to get the stickers. Children agree it feels just as good to give as it does to receive. Then the kids brainstorm and list other small acts of kindness they can give in the classroom or at home. The goal of the lesson is to teach children that generosity, like sharing a smile, a hug, a story, or a compliment, helps to develop positive relationships with peers and family members.

What’s something happening in the community that affects what goes on inside your classroom?

In many ways, the communities we serve are rebooting, and there is a lot of disruption. Students are headed back to school, parents are back at work (many of my students’ parents have more than one job), schedules are changing, and cold viruses are spreading. Adults are returning to a familiar way of life, but this is unfamiliar for kids under five who have spent the majority of their lives in a pandemic environment.

In the classroom, this translates to insecurity and introversion. They struggle with how to move in a room full of other children, sharing, taking turns, or simply playing with others. On the flip side, these children have formed strong, secure attachments with their caregivers, which is translating to strong, secure attachments with their teachers and peers.

What advice would you give someone considering a career in early childhood education?

First, see if this is the right fit for you. Visit and observe all types of schools and all ages, birth to five. Learn about Maria Montessori, Emilia Reggio, and play-based schools. Visit a Head Start, charter, or traditional public school, or one of the academically focused centers. Early childhood education is incredibly rewarding, and also incredibly hard, so find what sparks your passion the most and know that the work you are choosing is incredibly important and worthwhile. Connect with the teacher advocacy groups in your area, Teach Plus, First Up, and Children First have all been incredible sources of professional development and building my teacher network. Being involved with these organizations has allowed me to meet teachers outside of my school and strengthen my own teaching practice.

What’s a common misconception about preschool and/or early learners?

A common misconception about preschool and early learners is that their learning looks like typical elementary school learning and that small children sit and receive instruction directly from the teacher. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Early learners’ brains are still developing, mapping, and making connections. They learn by active participation, trial and error, exploration, and investigation. They learn by doing and for young children doing is playing. This is why I’m working with Teach Plus, raising my voice as an early childhood educator to advocate for what is best for young learners.

I understand that you help develop other early learning centers develop their curriculums. Tell me about that work and what makes a strong preschool curriculum.

I had the opportunity to work for a nationwide early learning center as a curriculum developer. My main project was rewriting the phonics program for 4- and 5-year-olds to reflect current research and best practices.

To me, a good preschool curriculum meets students where they are, engages them in developmentally appropriate practices, makes space for students to practice and reinforce skills, and allows multiple ways to demonstrate mastery of skills. Good preschool curriculum is child-focused, allows children to make independent choices, and allows lots of time for play. Good preschool curriculum engages teachers as room facilitators, or composers — bringing out the best in each student — as opposed to technicians rushing through scripts.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received, and how have you put it into practice?

The best advice I’ve ever received is that behavior is communication. This changed the way I manage my classroom and see my students. What I used to see as misbehavior I now know is an unmet need of a child that I need to address, whether it is feeling secure, managing emotions, or responding to internal body cues. With this orientation, I understand my students better and help them understand their needs and how to best meet them.

‘Reading is not a given’: National and local educators speak on how to teach reading in classrooms

2022-11-30T23:31:13+00:00

Hilary Muñoz is a special education teacher at Chicago Public Schools who has taught reading to bilingual students on the city’s southwest sides.

The national board certified teacher was finding that her students, who are native Spanish speakers, had not been progressing in reading before coming to her classroom. After a fruitless search for answers and receiving pushback from administrators, she did her own research and created an approach that enabled her students to progress. It was based on phonics-based instruction.

When asked if her students were struggling with reading due to a language barrier or a reading issue, she said that it was an issue with the instruction that they received in the past. Muñoz said at a panel on Tuesday night that rather than focusing on curriculum, she devised an approach to help her students learn to read and comprehend what they were reading.

Muñoz spoke to educators, reading advocates, and parents at a discussion on literacy instruction hosted by the CPS Parent Literacy Collaborative and the non-profit group Brightbeam.

Reading advocates throughout Illinois say students struggle to read because schools are not using the science of reading, including teaching phonics. Now, they say, it’s even more important for schools to embrace effective methods as they try to catch up students who are not reading at grade level after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted learning for more than two years.

Illinois test scores from the 2021-22 school year show that only 29.9% of students from third to eighth grades met state standards in reading, a 7.5 percentage point drop from 2019.

Earlier this year, literacy advocates pushed a bill to standardize reading instruction across the state. The Right to Read Act would have required the state to create a list of evidence-based reading programs and develop lists of support, training, and grants for interested districts The bill also would have created a statewide online training program for current teachers in early education and elementary schools, and would have required teachers seeking licensure to show knowledge of effective reading instruction.

The bill did not pass, but reading advocates anticipate reviving it during the lame-duck session in January or in the spring legislative session.

Even with momentum to change how schools teach reading, schools throughout Illinois and the country still stick to debunked methods. Some local schools use an approach called “balanced literacy” that mixes some phonics into “whole language instruction,” which is based on a philosophy that reading is a natural process.

Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, a bilingual speech-language pathologist, said during the panel discussion on Tuesday that schools must embrace an evidence-based approach to teaching reading and that educators must use multiple strategies to help students learn how to read.

“To be able to learn to read, you have to have those foundational skills, and that includes understanding how the structure of language works,” said Cárdenas-Hagan, who is president of the Valley Speech Language and Learning Center in Texas. “What are those letters and sounds, how do we blend them together, do we have the ability to process those sounds, can we read them ... all the while to be working on language and those high levels of comprehension.”

Maurice Swinney, a former Chicago Public Schools administrator, said he spent time as a principal trying to figure out how to help his high school students read at grade level.

“One of the missed opportunities that I had looking back was not focusing on how the brain takes in information in order to create a reading schema. Meaning, when you start to see these words all the time you know what they mean,” Swinney said. “I think it is important for classroom teachers to become scientists to understand how the brain works.”

If students are not proficient in reading by the end of third grade, they are four times more likely to drop out of school or fail to graduate, according to a national study. Also, some incarcerated people are not able to read or have undiagnosed dyslexia.

Some families are taking action against schools for not teaching their children to read. A group of Michigan students sued the state in 2020 for not providing them with a proper education. A similar case was settled in California.

States around the country have passed laws to teach the science of reading in the early grades and states have used federal COVID relief funds to expand reading programs. Some have created a statewide curriculum and recommended textbooks, third grade literacy screenings, professional development for teachers, and revamping teacher preparation programs.

At Tuesday’s panel, an audience member asked how schools can prevent failure and instead help students succeed in reading before they fail.

Kareem Weaver, a national advocate for the science of reading, said that “Prevention looks like early screening. Prevention looks like tier one instruction that follows the science and research consensus. Prevention means that you’re not skipping steps,” said Weaver, the co-founder of the Oakland, Calif.-based literacy group Fulcrum. “Prevention means that you have a solid curriculum that includes phonemic awareness, so we can attend to the sounds kids are hearing.”

Changes to Illinois’ early childhood education funding needed to fix pay disparities, advocates say

2022-11-22T22:25:01+00:00

The Chicago Early Childhood Workforce Partnership Employer Council is urging state and local lawmakers to re-evaluate how they fund early education, similar to how the state overhauled and increased K-12 funding five years ago.

A funding overhaul is needed, the council says, to fix disparities found in a study it commissioned late last year to identify pay gaps between early career educators, public school elementary teachers, and other job sectors.

Among the findings from the study and the council’s policy position paper released last week, Chicago’s early childhood educators are paid $18,000 less on average than elementary school teachers, despite having the same degrees. The gap is even wider for early educators of color, almost 4% when compared to white educators. Educators in K-8 and other industries outside of education often receive better benefits than early educator teachers.

In the policy position paper, the council calls on Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and other state and local elected officials to implement policy that will increase salaries and pay transparency in early education programs, examine gaps between white staff and staff of color, and provide a 5% cost-of-living increase, among other things.

Creating equity between teachers of infants and toddlers and teachers of elementary students is key to addressing a staffing crisis, improving retention, and providing low-income and middle class families with high quality care, said the council. Without better pay, the council says in its policy position paper, a quarter of Chicago’s early childhood educators and more than a third of administrators and home-based providers are projected to leave the field in the next five years.

Bela Moté, the president and CEO of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning and co-chair of the Early Childhood Workforce Partnership said the study repeats what early childhood education advocates, educators, and providers have long been saying and provides better data about what is happening in Chicago.

Her hope is the information will help the council make its case to lawmakers.

“We can’t be responsive. We can’t be competitive. We can’t be equitable if we’re at the mercy of formulas that don’t even consider a cost of living.” Mote said in an interview with Chalkbeat.

The council commissioned the Policy Equity Group — a Washington, D.C.-based policy organization — at the end of last year to look at Chicago’s Head Start programs. The group surveyed about 500 participants from private, public, and home-based early childhood providers in Chicago. The study focused on wages, benefits, and bonuses in early childhood education in comparison to Chicago Public Schools.

While Chicago Public Schools does not employ educators that work with children between the ages of 0-3 years old, the study compared salaries based on credentials that educators in K-12 and early childhood both have — such as college degrees and professional licenses.

The study found that the salary range for teachers in Chicago Public Schools is higher than the salary range for Head Start educators. One major gap was found in the role of “lead teacher.” The salary range for entry-level Head Start lead teachers is between $16 to $25 per hour, while Chicago Public Schools lead teachers start at $34.78 per hour.

The study also compared early education teachers’ pay to other industries such as transportation, food services, nursing, and ride-sharing. It points out that a Head Start lead teacher could make more in non-education jobs. For instance, the study found, Uber and Lyft drivers start off earning $19.01 an hour and Amazon pays between $18 to $24.

The results align with national findings that show early childhood educators in Illinois are paid about 30% less than public elementary school teachers in kindergarten through eighth grade despite having the same degree and license.

When looking at employee benefits, the study found that both early childhood education programs and Chicago Public Schools have good benefits. However, Chicago Public Schools provide more benefits including 10 days of paid parental leave, protection under the Families and Medical Leave Act for eligible employees, and the ability to take the summer off.

When looking at industries outside of education, the study found better benefits and bonuses for workers. According to the study, Amazon’s benefits include medical, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage, and parental leave. Amazon provides up to $3,000 sign-on bonuses, while Lyft offers a $2,000 sign-on bonus for drivers who complete 170 rides in the first 30 days and Uber gives drivers $2,400 in earnings for completing 200 rides/deliveries in the first 30 days in Chicago, the study says.

Philadelphia school board approves grant to teach anti-racism in elementary schools

2022-11-18T17:55:17+00:00

The Philadelphia school district will partner with a nonprofit organization to coach teachers in three elementary schools on avoiding racism in their teaching, thanks to an $84,000 initiative the school board approved Thursday.

The money for the Children’s Literacy Initiative will fund an early learning specialist who will coach teachers on techniques including anti-racist early literacy instruction, understanding structural bias, and designing lesson plans that foster diversity, equity, and inclusion, the district said.

The contract provides “embedded coaching” at Mary McLeod Bethune, Dr. Tanner G. Duckrey, and William Cramp schools, and runs through June 30 of next year. School board members approved the contract without comment.

The initiative dovetails with state standards released by the Pennsylvania Department of Education this week that are designed to have teachers address institutional racism and their own biases, and to counter racist practices in schools, the radio station WHYY reported.

The Children’s Literacy Initiative is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that works with schools around the country to improve literacy rates for early learners in economically disadvantaged schools.

“Teachers will receive side-by-side, job-embedded coaching to ensure quality and successful implementation, and children may see this reflected in the instruction,” a district spokeswoman said in an email to Chalkbeat.

The coach will work directly with teachers in kindergarten through second grade, as well as administrators, making weekly visits to each school, she said.

The program also calls for “teacher professional learning communities,” which are group sessions that focus on literacy objectives and differentiating instruction to meet children’s diverse needs. It also features “school based leadership team meetings” that aim to build principals’ and school leaders’ familiarity with the initiative and ensure they can review progress.

The program will allow teachers to customize lesson plans to class demographics, and will give school leaders the skills to ensure classroom materials are “culturally responsive,” the district said.

While initially limited to three schools, the program may be expanded to others as the district evaluates its success, the spokeswoman said.

The Hamilton Community Foundation and the Neubauer Family Foundation provided funding for the project, according to the district’s description of the initiative.

Correction: An earlier version incorrectly identified the organization receiving the grant. It is the Children’s Literacy Initiative.