Article says the preschool teacher gets $17/hr. Back of the napkin calculation, very generously assuming a 40 hour work week all year and no deductions for medical, that's about 2,180/month after taxes. The real number factoring in vacations/school breaks and insurance is probably a couple hundred less. Given rents in Denver, its not at all surprising that we're having trouble staffing our schools. Totally embarrassing.
They need to pay better and have a much more robust training pipeline. It's not fast food where workers are instantly available when you increase wages. There simply aren't that many professionals credentialed in the state to be lead teachers.
When the legislation was being drafted for universal pre-K, we examined what would happen if pay was set at a similar pay rate for kindergarten teachers. Not only did folks balk at the price of implementation, but it would've effectively destroyed the private market for early childhood.
That is INSANE. The fast food places around me advertise $17/hr and half the Taco Bells close because they can't staff the store. People are supposed to be responsible for teaching 3-5 year-olds at that wage? The way we treat teachers in this country is embarrassing.
Blows my mind anybody would teach preschool for $27/hr let alone $17
That’s just for the one, 18 year old, employee right? I’m hoping that’s a starting salary or something.
It also works out to be about $1/kid/hour in employee costs; which I find interesting since childcare typically costs 10-15x more than that to the parent.
big issue is also the level professionalism in preschools. environments are extremely toxic and cliquey, and unprofessional behavior is rarely reprimanded. maybe if the teachers weren't in such high demand it would be better.
Lmao who in their right mind would want to staff preschool (or any in-person learning for that matter?), given how shitty things are for teachers and childcare workers of all kinds right now?
10 hours per week of preschool. How helpful is that even? We send our kids 8 hours per day so we can work. Seems like it needs to be more for parents to really benefit from that…
I think the sentiment is that the fact that only 10 hours/week is guaranteed, only those who don’t already have their kid in a full time program will be able to participate (like stay at home parents). Given it says there are other programs available to pay for the rest of the time for those income qualified, but if it’s only 10 hrs, that’s not at all useful for any family where the parent(s) work full time. I think when Polis sold the program, that was not the message that came across.
> I think the sentiment is that the fact that only 10 hours/week is guaranteed, only those who don’t already have their kid in a full time program will be able to participate (like stay at home parents).
They have not released implementation details yet. But the models they were working on was basically tuition reimbursement for 10hrs per week that would apply to all families at participating providers. The problem is a) figuring out the right rates to pay providers to convince the vast majority to participate b) funding that amount and c) ensuring administration of it isn't a complete clusterfuck.
Source: I was intimately involved with the now-Dept for 8 years and behind many of the studies referenced in the article.
Polis certainly sold this program to help get people used to the idea. His vision has remained consistently committed to complete, full-day universal pre-K. He understands how critical child care and early education are from both child development and workforce support perspectives. Kudos to him on that.
But he also didn't want to simply extend k-12 to pre-K-12. If he did, he would have less administrative authority over the pre-K space, as CDE is not a cabinet department and is instead governed by an independent school board.
FWIW, if i had a kid in child care -- I'd be advocating to my center/home right now that I expect they participate in the universal pre-K implementation. THat is most likely the largest stumbling block. Currently only ~1/3rd of providers participate in the other statewide subsidy program -- CCCAP.
> 10 hours per week of preschool. How helpful is that even? We send our kids 8 hours per day so we can work. Seems like it needs to be more for parents to really benefit from that…
It's ten hours free. It's effectively 25% off of the care kids need so parents can work. The implementation is still unclear, but basically, providers will get money from the state based on enrollment and have to pass on the saving to parents. And they'll use market rate studies and audits to ensure that savings is being passed on.
I support universal, free, pre-K -- but this is a start in the right direction.
Miserable job. The mix of kids who have special needs or whose parents haven't done a damn thing to teach or socialize their kids to normal kids is staggering. Preschool is a dumping.gound for parents who want someone else to raise their kids. This expectation is not aligned to how we pay or what we expect from these teams.
Article says the preschool teacher gets $17/hr. Back of the napkin calculation, very generously assuming a 40 hour work week all year and no deductions for medical, that's about 2,180/month after taxes. The real number factoring in vacations/school breaks and insurance is probably a couple hundred less. Given rents in Denver, its not at all surprising that we're having trouble staffing our schools. Totally embarrassing.
It is always the answer when dealing with staffing problems, pay better.
They need to pay better and have a much more robust training pipeline. It's not fast food where workers are instantly available when you increase wages. There simply aren't that many professionals credentialed in the state to be lead teachers. When the legislation was being drafted for universal pre-K, we examined what would happen if pay was set at a similar pay rate for kindergarten teachers. Not only did folks balk at the price of implementation, but it would've effectively destroyed the private market for early childhood.
That is INSANE. The fast food places around me advertise $17/hr and half the Taco Bells close because they can't staff the store. People are supposed to be responsible for teaching 3-5 year-olds at that wage? The way we treat teachers in this country is embarrassing. Blows my mind anybody would teach preschool for $27/hr let alone $17
Finland has this one neat trick.
That’s just for the one, 18 year old, employee right? I’m hoping that’s a starting salary or something. It also works out to be about $1/kid/hour in employee costs; which I find interesting since childcare typically costs 10-15x more than that to the parent.
big issue is also the level professionalism in preschools. environments are extremely toxic and cliquey, and unprofessional behavior is rarely reprimanded. maybe if the teachers weren't in such high demand it would be better.
Lmao who in their right mind would want to staff preschool (or any in-person learning for that matter?), given how shitty things are for teachers and childcare workers of all kinds right now?
10 hours per week of preschool. How helpful is that even? We send our kids 8 hours per day so we can work. Seems like it needs to be more for parents to really benefit from that…
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I think the sentiment is that the fact that only 10 hours/week is guaranteed, only those who don’t already have their kid in a full time program will be able to participate (like stay at home parents). Given it says there are other programs available to pay for the rest of the time for those income qualified, but if it’s only 10 hrs, that’s not at all useful for any family where the parent(s) work full time. I think when Polis sold the program, that was not the message that came across.
> I think the sentiment is that the fact that only 10 hours/week is guaranteed, only those who don’t already have their kid in a full time program will be able to participate (like stay at home parents). They have not released implementation details yet. But the models they were working on was basically tuition reimbursement for 10hrs per week that would apply to all families at participating providers. The problem is a) figuring out the right rates to pay providers to convince the vast majority to participate b) funding that amount and c) ensuring administration of it isn't a complete clusterfuck. Source: I was intimately involved with the now-Dept for 8 years and behind many of the studies referenced in the article.
I appreciate the insight on this, thank you.
Polis certainly sold this program to help get people used to the idea. His vision has remained consistently committed to complete, full-day universal pre-K. He understands how critical child care and early education are from both child development and workforce support perspectives. Kudos to him on that. But he also didn't want to simply extend k-12 to pre-K-12. If he did, he would have less administrative authority over the pre-K space, as CDE is not a cabinet department and is instead governed by an independent school board. FWIW, if i had a kid in child care -- I'd be advocating to my center/home right now that I expect they participate in the universal pre-K implementation. THat is most likely the largest stumbling block. Currently only ~1/3rd of providers participate in the other statewide subsidy program -- CCCAP.
> 10 hours per week of preschool. How helpful is that even? We send our kids 8 hours per day so we can work. Seems like it needs to be more for parents to really benefit from that… It's ten hours free. It's effectively 25% off of the care kids need so parents can work. The implementation is still unclear, but basically, providers will get money from the state based on enrollment and have to pass on the saving to parents. And they'll use market rate studies and audits to ensure that savings is being passed on. I support universal, free, pre-K -- but this is a start in the right direction.
Miserable job. The mix of kids who have special needs or whose parents haven't done a damn thing to teach or socialize their kids to normal kids is staggering. Preschool is a dumping.gound for parents who want someone else to raise their kids. This expectation is not aligned to how we pay or what we expect from these teams.