Report: State’s pre-K rating improves with more funds
The New Mexican
By: Robert Nott
Posted: Tuesday, May 13, 2014
New Mexico improved its national ranking in resources spent on prekindergarten programs last year from 31 to 27 among the 40 states, plus the District of Columbia, that offer pre-K programs, according to a report released Tuesday.
The federally funded report by the National Institute for Early Education Research, a unit of Rutgers University, found that overall enrollment in prekindergarten declined across the U.S. for the first time in a decade, and spending per child rose just $36.
But in New Mexico, per-pupil funding increased by 13 percent — about $390 — to about $3,600 per student, between 2011-12 and 2012-13.
“The State of Preschool Yearbook 2013” also reports that New Mexico ranks 25 in access to pre-K. It was one of 20 states to expand enrollment in publicly supported pre-K programs. The state has 5,331 4-year-olds — 18 percent of that age bracket — in such programs, up from about 4,590 the year before.
Pre-K advocates would like to see even bigger gains. Veronica Garcia, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, said the numbers “speak for themselves. We have 18 percent of our 4-year-olds in publicly supported programs, but I think when we started the Pre-K Act in 2005, the intent was to have 70 percent of our kids involved. It’s great that we are making progress, but it’s not where it needs to be. We need to keep the pedal to the metal and keep advocating for more funding.”
She said New Mexico only funds half-day pre-K programs, unlike some other states. The national report does not differentiate between the two options.
Katherine Freeman, CEO and president of United Way of Santa Fe County, which runs several pre-K programs, said she is happy that “in an environment of decreasing numbers, New Mexico has increasing numbers. And increasing numbers means increasing funding.” She said the perception that New Mexico is failing its children in this arena comes from the belief that the incremental funding increases seen over the past few years may not have enough impact on the state’s children.
Still, some preschool centers around the state have expressed fear that due to a lack of state funding, they will have to close. Carmella Salinas of the Family Learning Center in Española said via email, “I teach Pre-K every day in my center and every day I fear my center will close, I will get laid off, and these kids will be even further behind” due to a lack of subsidized support. In her view, the report “highlights our state’s lack of dedication to early childhood education.”
The data collected for the report came from state agencies that ran preschool programs between November 2013 and March 2014. The report notes that 10 states, including Hawaii, Idaho, Montana and Utah, do not offer state-funded preschool.
Nationwide, the states spent $5.4 billion on early childhood programs, covering about 1.34 million children, according to the report. The District of Columbia and three states — Florida, Oklahoma and Vermont — are credited with serving more than 70 percent of their 4-year-olds. Eleven states, including Alaska, Arizona and Missouri, serve fewer than 10 percent of that population.
Steve Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research, said in a statement that New Mexico’s pre-K spending countered national trends, given that more than 20 states in the report had decreased funding over the past year.
“We are encouraged by efforts by Governor [Susana] Martinez and the Legislature to increase resources and expand enrollment over the coming decade,” Barnett said in the news release. Efforts to reach him for further comment were unsuccessful.
Larry Behrens, a spokesman for the state’s Public Education Department, said via email that every district that requested pre-K dollars last year received funding, “proving targeted spending is delivering results for our students.”
Last June, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private nonpartisan advocacy organization housed in Baltimore, released its annual Kids Count Data Book, which ranked New Mexico last in overall child well-being.