Community Connection: Ann Schimke of Chalkbeat Colorado

TREE: KUVO JAZZ. Joining us today, Ann Schimke, a senior reporter whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and The Denver Post. Now she covers early childhood issues for Chalkbeat Colorado. Ann holds a master’s degree in education policy from the University of Michigan. Good morning, Ann. Thank you for joining us for KUVO’s Community Connection.

ANN: Good morning. Thank you for having me.

TREE: My pleasure. Now, I understand that Colorado's popular Universal Preschool Program has dramatically increased the number of four-year-olds who have enrolled in state-funded preschool, but it unfolded largely without guardrails to ensure quality. Can you explain that?

ANN: Sure. So, let's start with the good news. Colorado's Universal Preschool Program: it just finished its second year, and it wildly increased the number of four-year-olds who are served with free half or full-day preschool. So, there are more than 40,000 kids in this program.

TREE: Wow.

ANN: That's about 70% of four-year-olds in the state. Colorado used to be middle of the pack for the share of four-year-olds served in state-funded preschool. It rocketed up to number three in the nation.

TREE: Amazing.

ANN: Yeah, so in terms of access, Colorado is doing quite well. The news isn't so good in terms of quality standards that the state is meeting on this national report that was released recently. Colorado only met two of 10 quality benchmarks.

TREE: Wow.

ANN: A lot of states meet nine or 10, so Colorado is far behind in that respect. These quality benchmarks are basically policies that help ensure preschools are high-quality. So, there are things like lower class sizes, strong curriculum credentials for teachers. Those kinds of things.

TREE: That's amazing. So Colorado is working on that, but they just haven't quite put it all together yet. So, I understand that they have postponed the date to start this new preschool quality, put that in place, I should say, until July of 2026. Now, do you believe that's going to happen?

ANN: Yes, I do believe that's going to happen, and that is correct. So, right before the fourth class of universal preschool students starts, those new quality standards should be in place. Those still won't get Colorado up to the nine or 10 benchmarks some of the states have, but it might get them halfway there. Maybe four, five, maybe even six. What I would note though for parents is that that doesn't mean there's not quality preschools in Colorado right now.

TREE: True.

ANN: There's many fantastic preschools. They are voluntarily choosing to be high-quality and to meet those standards individually. What this national report was really looking at is that it's not universally required.

TREE: Okay. So, how many preschools are we talking? I mean, we're talking a lot of kids.

ANN: We're talking about, let's see, over maybe 2,000 preschool providers around the state of Colorado that are in the Universal Preschool Program. What percent are high quality — just because they're voluntarily choosing to do those things — that I can't tell you. I think that's where it's going to require parents to do their own research and do their own —

TREE: That's a big number.

ANN: Yeah. Do their own due diligence and make sure the program they're selecting for their child meets what they're looking for: those lower-class sizes, experienced teachers. Those kinds of things.

TREE: Okay. Cause that takes me into my next question, which is now Colorado doesn't meet a lot of the benchmarks related to the type of credentials as far as teachers or assistant teachers should have, or annual training for the staff and coaching. So, how do we improve in that area?

ANN: So, those standards that we talked about that are going in place in July of 2026, that will take care of some of that, specifically the training — the annual training for teachers. But two of the other standards, one is a bachelor's degree for lead teachers. I don't see that ever being a requirement in Colorado — at least not anytime soon. There's been a lot of pushback to that kind of thing nationally. A lot of early childhood teachers have many, many years of experience, but they don't have a college degree.

TREE: Wow.

ANN: And so, there is an argument to be made that they should not be pushed out of the profession because they don't have that bachelor's degree. So that's something that I don't think we'll see come into play in Colorado. That doesn't mean some teachers don't have that college degree, but I don't see it being a requirement.

TREE: Okay. Now, I recall there being a shortage of teachers in other levels of education. Do you think it's more in the preschool or more in the other levels?

ANN: Oh, it's absolutely in preschool and even childcare classrooms. There's a huge shortage of early childhood teachers, and that's one more reason that it's hard to put in a mandate that teachers have bachelor's degrees or maybe even associate's degrees because then you're just exacerbating a shortage that's already a huge problem.

TREE: Right. Now, what about the experience? Let's say you've been a teacher, teacher aide, say five, six years. Doesn’t that equivalent take care of the degree part of it?

ANN: It could. I mean, I think that's where we're getting into a case-by-case basis, and it depends what kind of on the job training they've had. So, I think absolutely experience comes into play, but I think it's hard to say, “Yes, if you have seven years of experience that's equivalent to a college degree.” I don't think we can say that, and I don't think that's what the state is going to come out with either.

TREE: Right. Now, let me ask you: so, if you are a teacher's assistant or a teacher now, and your last job has ended at that particular school, what would you tell that teacher as far as getting ready for the new school year? Where do they start looking for work?

ANN: Well, like we said, there's a huge shortage of early childhood teachers. So, in some ways I think it's a buyer's market in terms of looking for a job. I think that teachers probably will have a lot of choices if they're looking.

TREE: Okay. If they’re looking. Because I've talked to a few teachers that are having trouble finding the upper education openings for teachers, but preschool seems to not be a problem. But you have to be very patient and understanding in order to deal with preschoolers because they're a whole different getting used to.

ANN: That's exactly right. And I think in the industry, a lot of teachers hate this portrayal that they're babysitters. They do so much more than that and they truly are early educators. And one other thing to note is a lot of public schools hire preschool teachers who do — are licensed teachers and have a bachelor's degree. So I think where we're seeing perhaps more of a shortage is in private preschools that do not require a teacher's license, a bachelor's degree.

TREE: A college degree, yeah. Wow. That's amazing information. And of course, parents are getting ready to — I think this is the last day of school for a lot of parents, but as you get prepared to go to school here in the fall, this is something to think about. Especially if you have four-year-olds just get starting out. This is a great idea to get out there and research.

ANNE: That's exactly right. And Universal Preschool provides 15 hours a week of free preschool. So, it does save parents a lot of money, and it's just important to find the best place, the high-quality place for your child, and they are out there. But without these state guardrails in place yet, it is going to take a little more research on the part of parents.

TREE: Yeah, it's going to take time to take care of your child. That's what it is. Alright. Now, a 2019 study that revealed additional negative outcomes as the children became teens and young adults concluded that, in their findings, provide a strong support for the argument that the early childhood development environment is crucial in determining the long-term success of children. Would you agree with that?

ANN: That's exactly right. And that study refers to a program in Quebec. It offered $10 a day childcare, so very inexpensive. It started in the 1990s. And the problem was a lot of the childcare centers that participated were not very high quality. And so kids were in these low quality situations in some cases, and studies ultimately showed, including this one, that it increased kids' anxiety over a longer term. It increased aggression, it increased behavior problems. And all that is to say that the quality of childcare does matter. It matters in the moment, and it matters for years after.

TREE: Right. The early childhood is just the beginning. But yes, that's going to matter for years down through that 12th grade and then some.

ANN: That's exactly right. And so, it is an argument for those quality guardrails and to have a system in place that ensures quality, not just individual programs ensuring it.

TREE: Excellent. Ann, I appreciate you spending time with us today on KUVO. Your valuable information and insight into preschool. It was absolutely wonderful, and hopefully, it helps many parents out there getting prepared for preschool. So, thank you for your time. We are a Colorado where everyone feels seen and heard.

ANN: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.