In the Wake of the Passage of Proposition EE, Colorado Children's Campaign Takes Stock of The State's Early Childhood Care and Education Landscape

DENVER, March 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Recent meetings around Colorado, led by the Colorado Children's Campaign (CCC), with early childhood care and education providers, parents, advocates, and agency officials about the implementation of universal preschool program found that better funding and a stronger governance structure are two issues that require immediate attention.

"It's clear that Colorado needs to get to work bringing order to an early childhood care and education system that really doesn't deserve to be called a system at this point," said Bill Jaeger, Vice President of Early Childhood and Policy Initiatives at Colorado Children's Campaign. "Parents are struggling with a lack of consistent, reliable financial support; providers are stymied by a confusing and redundant governance structure that requires them to coordinate with a myriad of agencies. Meanwhile, systems leaders with early childhood care and education oversight responsibilities are also frustrated by the lack of a coherent system."

Between August 2020 and March 2021, the CCC convened community dialogue opportunities to advance a shared understanding of the issues surrounding the implementation of universal preschool in Colorado and learn about the needs of Colorado's families and early care and education community. The CCC, in partnership with Early Milestones Colorado and numerous other organizations, formed a Preschool Policy Leadership Committee, a Preschool Policy Advisory Group, created a community input toolkit, and conducted listening sessions around the state. As of the end of March, nearly 1,000 Coloradoans had participated in at least one of more than 80 community meetings in at least 32 of Colorado's counties.

Areas of focus at the meetings included understanding the status of child care and pre-kindergarten education in Colorado, program standards that advance child outcomes, strategies to support inclusive participation, governance of early care and education, funding of early care and education, and early childhood education workforce challenges and opportunities. During community input sessions, participants were asked to share their hopes and fears for universal preschool, their goals for early care and education, what is already working well in their communities, and anything their communities might need to have a successful transition to universal preschool programming.

"We have heard from hundreds of community members including providers, school district leaders, parents, Early Childhood Councils, advocates, educator groups, and philanthropic leaders," said Melissa Mares, Early Childhood Policy Fellow at the Colorado Children's Campaign. "Even with new revenue from the passage last year of Proposition EE which allows for the taxation of tobacco products to support universal preschool for all Colorado four-year-olds, no single funding stream can adequately cover the full-day, full-year needs of working families."

The next phase of the policy development process involves vetting the pros, cons, opportunities, and unintended consequences of specific policy choices that Colorado should consider. This will begin with a focus on governance, funding, and equitable program development.

"As a state we made a big commitment to early childhood education last year through the passage of Proposition EE," said Jaeger. "Now we need to step up again, but this time the challenge is to bring affordability AND coherence to the entire birth to kindergarten system so we can have programs that do right by our youngest learners."

About The Colorado Children's Campaign
The Colorado Children's Campaign, www.coloradokids.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization committed since 1985 to realizing every chance for every child in Colorado.

Contact:
Erich Kirshner
[email protected]
303.921.6733

SOURCE The Colorado Children’s Campaign