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August 25, 2023 01:05 PM UTC

Universal Preschool Program Takes First Steps

1 Comments
by: Colorado Pols

Governor Jared Polis visiting a Denver preschool earlier this month.

Colorado’s new universal preschool program is still being rolled out across the state, and despite a few hiccups for one of Gov. Jared Polis’s signature issues, tens of thousands of families are taking advantage of the opportunity.

As Ann Schimke reports for Chalkbeat Colorado, participants in the program are happy to get started:

The new $322 million program offers 10 to 30 hours a week of tuition-free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide and 10 hours to some 3-year-olds.

Up to 40,000 4-year-olds are expected to participate in the program this school year, double the enrollment of Colorado’s previous state-funded preschool program.

Many parents and early childhood advocates are excited about the state’s effort to help more families with preschool costs and prepare kids for kindergarten. [Pols emphasis] At the same time, some aspects of universal preschool rollout have been rushed, confusing, and punctuated by eleventh hour changes.

Thousands of families who had expected the state to cover full-day preschool based on meeting certain criteria found out in late July the program would only pay for half-day classes. Most recently, school district officials sued over the program, claiming the state is harming students with disabilities and breaking funding promises to families and schools. Religious preschools also have sued, alleging that anti-discrimination requirements violate their religious beliefs.

We wrote last week about one of those lawsuits, a ridiculous challenge from the Denver Catholic Archdiocese complaining that it should get state funding even though it openly discriminates against LGBTQ families. While there have been challenges in rolling out the new Universal Preschool program (also dubbed UPK, for “Universal Pre-Kindergarten), some of the complaints have been a tad overwrought considering that this is a BRAND NEW initiative that has room for 56,000 eligible children in Colorado:

For her part, Auraria Early Learning Center Director Emily Nelson said she’s pleased with how universal preschool is shaping up. There have been challenges, but that’s true with any new system, she said.

“I feel good with where we’re at,” she said. “I feel like parents have the information they need.”

She’s heard some parents express relief that the state is helping defray tuition costs. [Pols emphasis] Under universal preschool, the state covers the cost of 15 hours a week at the center, dropping monthly full-day tuition from $1,531 to $921. Some parents get additional assistance through campus scholarships or a taxpayer-funded tuition credit program called the Denver Preschool Program.

Like many providers across Colorado, Nelson had empty universal preschool seats on the first day of school — eight between her two 4-year-old classrooms. Statewide, about 56,000 4-year-old seats are available, well above the number that will be needed even if more families sign up in the coming months.

[mantra-pullquote align=”right” textalign=”left” width=”60%”]“Statewide, about 56,000 4-year-old seats are available, well above the number that will be needed even if more families sign up in the coming months.”

— Chalkbeat Colorado (8/23/23)[/mantra-pullquote]

In a recent Op-Ed published in The Denver Post, two of the leaders of the UPK initiative — Nicole Riehl and Sue Renner — explained that some program complaints are related to a “mixed delivery” implementation system that was very much intentional:

At issue is the ability of families to select programs that best meet their preschool and childcare needs. A mixed delivery system offers families such flexibility. Mixed delivery is a system that distributes funding across multiple providers of early childhood education, including licensed center-and family-based childcare programs, Head Start, Early Head Start, public schools, and community-based organizations to ensure access to high-quality, affordable care and learning options for children through age five and their families.

Requiring families to secure services exclusively from a school district, as a recent school district lawsuit would enable, does not allow families the flexibility to select a provider who can meet their children’s needs for year-round stability. [Pols emphasis]

Research has long shown that early childhood education has a significant impact on how children learn and grow in later years. While the Polis administration is working on ironing out the wrinkles with the new UPK program, that shouldn’t overshadow the significance of what is a massive statewide accomplishment.

One thought on “Universal Preschool Program Takes First Steps”

spaceman2021 says:

August 25, 2023 at 1:56 pm

The hiccups are more substantial, and the rollout is a shitshow for some parents, as Kyle Clark covered well recently. Yes, it's an important rollout and definite progress in the area, but Polis should not be let off the hook for the "hiccups" or the failure to engage with the districts better.

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Universal Preschool Program Takes First Steps

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