Schools

Chalkbeat -As publicly funded preschool programs expand around the country, these classrooms increasingly are located within public elementary schools. Research by the Urban Institute found that by the 2019-20 school year, about 60% of elementary schools offered preschool, compared with just 10% in the 1980s. And the number has likely grown since then as more states invest in public preschool.

In Colorado, school districts with declining enrollment have found that offering preschool is a way to fill empty classrooms and secure more revenue, while also building early connections with families that might keep them in the district. It’s also a lot more convenient for parents who also have older children attending the same school.But not everyone is cheering. Some private child care providers fear that their already thin margins could become unsustainable as school districts siphon off 4-year-olds, who are less expensive to care for than younger children. And some early childhood advocates worry that just as kindergarten became the new first grade, preschool could become the new kindergarten, with more academic content and less time for play. “I don’t want to see preschool become this mini boot camp for third grade reading scores,” one advocate told Chalkbeat. MORE