Thanks to Denver voters, many more of the city’s youngest residents now will have a better chance for an equal start in school, and that will help give them an equal start in life.
The recently approved Denver Preschool Program, which will increase sales taxes 12 cents on a $100 purchase, will pay for tuition credits that eligible families can use to pay for sending their 4-year-olds to preschool.
Research has proven time and again that investing in preschool pays for itself many times over. Children who participate in high quality early learning programs are better prepared for kindergarten, especially kids at risk for school failure, such as children in poverty, children of color and children with English as a second language.
And when children in kindergarten are ready to learn, they can build a foundation for learning that pays dividends throughout their school experience. Research indicates that down the road, these children will have higher CSAP scores, will be less likely to be held back a grade or to need special education and will be more likely to graduate from high school and continue on to further education.
The benefits of investing in preschool have been shown to continue past high school graduation, with at-risk students who attended preschool less likely to be involved in criminal activity and likely to earn more money over their lifetimes than they would have otherwise.
The Perry Preschool Study done by the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation is the longest running study of the impact of high quality preschool, having followed program participants through age 40.
When comparing the program group (children who received high quality preschool) with the no-program group (children who received no preschool), researchers found that 65 percent of the program group graduated from high school compared to 45 percent of the no-program group.
At age 40, 60 percent of the program group earned above $20,000 compared to only 40 percent of the no-program group. And 36 percent of the program group had been arrested more than five times, compared to 55 percent of the no-program group.
Closer to home, the Colorado Preschool and Kindergarten Program (CPKP) provides high quality preschool and full-day kindergarten to more than 14,000 Colorado children.
A study of this program by researchers at the University of Northern Colorado revealed that children who attended CPKP in 1988 were placed in special education less often and repeated grades less often than their counterparts who do not attend the program. Additionally, the researchers reported that 87 percent of children who received CPKP graduated from high school, compared to the high school graduation rate of 81.8 percent reported for the general population in 2002.
According to the Colorado Children’s Campaign’s analysis of Denver’s early education landscape, there is a significant need for more preschool in Denver.
Of Denver’s nearly 10,000 4-year olds, about 4,000 are from families that most likely will not need to participate in the Denver Preschool Program. Most of these children either stay home with parents, are cared for by family members or have families able to easily afford preschool on their own. That leaves 6,000 children who could benefit from publicly funded preschool.
Existing resources – including Head Start, the Colorado Preschool and Kindergarten Program and the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program – provide for only a quarter of the total need for preschool in Denver.
The new Denver Preschool Program will help fill the gap, but exactly how many more children will be served depends on pending decisions, including how many hours per day and days per year will be covered. For example, the new program could provide full-time preschool throughout the calendar year to about 1,000 more kids of working parents. If, on the other hand, the program only matched the level of service provided by current programs, the new funding could support at least 2,000 more children.
Today’s competitive world places greater demands on our educational system. While providing preschool alone is not enough and must be part of a broader, coordinated education system, we know the best place to start is at the beginning, by making sure children enter school ready to learn.
Megan Ferland is president of the Colorado Children’s Campaign. Jennifer Landrum is the group’s policy director of early childhood education.
