Texas making strides, but still needs improvements in early education, report finds

AUSTIN — Texas is responsible for teaching more children in state-funded pre-K than nearly every other state and leads the way nationally in requiring specialized staff to teach bilingual students, but still lags behind much of the country in funding early education and doing more to ensure higher quality, according to a national study released Wednesday.

The annual report from the National Institute for Early Education Research shows Texas met four out of 10 quality standards used as benchmarks by the group, falling short on issues including class sizes, student-teacher ratios and requiring that assistant teachers have certifications.

“The report is a reminder that the Legislature has a lot of work to do to make sure more children walk into the first day of kindergarten on grade level rather than starting behind their classmates on day one,” said Stephanie Rubin, CEO of Texans Care for Children, which has lobbied in favor of improved early education in Texas.

Texas is one of six states the report praised for having policies to support dual language learners in preschool and one of three that requires teachers to have a bilingual certification, the others being California and Illinois.

With more than half of the state’s total public school population made up of Hispanic students, 40 percent, or 88,500 pre-K enrollees, are dual language learners, according to the study. Texas is one of 26 state-funded preschool programs, including Guam, that can report the home languages of children enrolled.

According to the study, which examined state pre-K programs from the 2016-17 school year, Texas enrolled some 234,000 children in pre-K. That’s more than any other state outside California, which enrolled about 264,000 students.

Texas ranked tenth in the nation for enrolling nearly 50 percent of its 4-year-old students in pre-K. That ranking fell to thirteenth in the nation for enrolling less than 10 percent of pre-K 3-year-olds.

While the state ranks high for enrollment, according to the study, Texas falls below the national average for per-student spending. The state ranked 28 in the country after total state funding for the program fell by $45 million from the 2015-2016 school year.

More Information By the numbers Texas serves among the highest populations of pre-K students in the nation. Here’s a look at the numbers from the 2016-17 school year: Enrolled 4-year-olds: 196,424, 49.4 percent Enrolled 3-year-olds: 27,588, 6.9 percent Total 3- and 4-year-olds: 28.1 percent Enrollment growth from 2002: 10.1 percent State money spent per child enrolled in pre-K: $3,846 Change in state money spent per child from 2015-2016: -$265 All reported money spent per child: $3,901 National rankings Access for 4-year-olds: 10 Access for 3-year-olds: 13 Resources rank based on state spending: 28 Current Quality standards checklist (maximum of 10): 4 Courtesy of the National Institute for Early Education Research.

The national popularity of pre-k has steadily grown, according to the study. One out of three families are enrolling their young children in pre-K nationally, compared to 14 percent of children enrolled in 2002.

States across the country have engaged in political battles over pre-K, with some state lawmakers arguing the early education amounts to little more than a taxpayer-funded babysitter. Others have championed pre-K programs as tools to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds prepare for kindergarten and grade school.

Others, like Police Chief Jeff Gibson of Bedford, argue that pre-K can also help break the cycle of poverty and reduce crime.

“If we can invest even just a little bit of money in pre-K programs now, it will mean long-term savings in remedial education, health outcomes and incarceration,” said Gibson on behalf of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a group made of law enforcement, prosecutors and violence survivors. “Coming from a state that spends nearly $6 billion a year on incarceration in state and local facilities alone, that’s one small investment that would go a long way.”

‘Huge step backwards’

Gov. Greg Abbott has championed high-quality pre-K for young Texans, but the Legislature decided last year not to renew $118 million in grant money for pre-K funding.

“Last year the Legislature took a huge step backwards when it cut pre-k funding, eliminating the pre-k grants established just two years earlier at the request of Governor Abbott,” said Rubin of Texans Care for Children. “I'm optimistic that the Legislature can move on from the fights about the grant program and get back to work on boosting pre-k, but we're also going to need business leaders, educators, parents, and other Texans to get back to pushing state leaders to make it a priority.”

In Texas, school districts are required to offer free half-day pre-K if a student meets any of the following criteria: unable to speak and comprehend English, eligible for free or reduced-priced lunch, homeless, in foster care, parent is on active military duty or was injured or killed on active duty or parent was a peace officer, firefighter or emergency first responder killed in the line of duty and eligible for the Star of Texas award.

School districts can offer pre-K to all students regardless of of the criteria, but must either charge a fee or find another method to pay for students outside the scope of Texas’ program.

Texas scored poorly for meeting only four of 10 quality benchmarks assembled by NIEER. The state met standards for having a comprehensive early learning standard, requiring the lead teacher have a bachelor’s degree, requiring specialized training in pre-K and requiring at least 15 hours of professional development for teachers.

However, the state failed to meet six other standards, including setting max class sizes of 20 students, requiring a 10:1 student-teacher ratio, requiring a Child Development Associate degree for assistant teachers, providing at least one meal to students and site visits.

Andrea Zelinski covers politics for the Houston Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook. Send her tips at andrea.zelinski@chron.com.

andrea.zelinski@chron.com

Twitter.com/andreazelinski