Colorado leaders know that the success of our city and state hinges on our ability to educate our children. Children who attend high quality preschool are more likely to graduate high school, own a home and have a job as adults, factors which increase the success of Coloradans overall and decrease the strain on social programs. The Denver Preschool Program was created to support that concept.
The Denver Preschool Program uses a portion of Denver sales tax revenue to fund tuition credits to help families pay for preschool and quality improvement grants to help preschools improve their programs. Our latest independent evaluation shows that we are making a real impact on early childhood education (ECE) in Denver and helping prepare students for academic success — but supporting early childhood education is not easy.
As we enter the legislative session, we face another budget that could very well include cuts to education. In December, Colorado was passed over as a recipient of the Early Learning Challenge Fund that could have provided a significant boost to the state’s early childhood efforts. But even without these critical funds, Colorado can and should continue to be a leader in ECE reform.
Thankfully, our state is already on its way to becoming a model for early education excellence. Lt. Governor Joe Garcia recently launched an early childhood literacy program that aims to improve reading and writing at an early age. Prior to that, now-Governor John Hickenlooper supported the Preschool Matters Campaign, which passed in 2006 and established the Denver Preschool Program, a community-supported early childhood education program that continues to thrive today.
The Denver Preschool Program is proud of our state and city’s commitment to ECE. The Denver Preschool Program is bringing positive results to the community. With nearly 70 percent of eligible kids enrolled, the Denver Preschool Program has quickly become one of the highest enrolled preschool programs of its kind in the country. And with more than 90 percent of these children enrolled in top-tier preschools, we know we are moving the bar for Denver’s kids.
In an effort to report our progress back to the community, we conduct an annual independent evaluation that tracks student outcomes and surveys parents and preschool providers to learn more about what we’re doing right and how we can improve.
This month, we released our latest report that shows that the Denver Preschool Program’s commitment to quality education is impacting the Denver community and helping students achieve more.
The report reveals that Denver Preschool Program students made significant progress during their preschool year — above and beyond what is considered typical. The vast majority of Denver Preschool Program children leave the program ready for kindergarten, both academically and emotionally. This is the kind of positive trend that Colorado needs.
Parents in Denver join our community leaders in their support for ECE. It is clear that they understand the need for and benefits of quality preschool. According to the parent survey, the quality of preschool appears to be more important to parents than even the cost, which can often be more than the cost of one year of in-state college tuition in Colorado.
There is no doubt that this investment pays off. High-quality preschool benefits not only a child’s cognitive development, but also his or her social and emotional growth.
Research shows that the years before a child reaches kindergarten are among the most critical in his or her life to influence learning. This is why we must continue to prioritize early education as fundamental to the success of Colorado.
While the results of our recent evaluation are encouraging, we still have a long way to go. Our hope is that the Denver Preschool Program can serve as a model for innovative education funding. With more than 20,000 Denver Preschool Program graduates already in elementary school, we hope to see the rippling benefits of this program for years to come.
Eileen Piper is the chief executive officer of the Denver Preschool Program.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
