The District is trying to accelerate its progress in early childhood education, speeding up the time frame in which all preschool and prekindergarten teachers need to have bachelor’s degrees, and setting other ambitious goals concerning the city’s littlest learners.
On Thursday, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray plans to announce a new initiative called Raise D.C. as an umbrella for these new targets and recently announced goals of D.C. Public Schools.
All D.C. early childhood teachers must earn a bachelor’s degree and all assistant teachers must earn an associate’s degree in early childhood education or a related field by 2017, according to the Pre-K Enhancement and Expansion Amendment Act of 2008.
But on Tuesday, the mayor said he wants to meet that benchmark by 2014. Additionally, the mayor and school leaders want at least 50 percent of early childhood programs in their top rating tier by 2014. Currently, 32 percent of centers are at the “gold” level, along with 15 percent of family child care programs.
“That’s pretty rigorous,” Gray said of the goal of 50 percent, but added, “I don’t know why we didn’t go further.”
D.C. Public Schools recently announced its own set of goals for 2015, most notably raising the number of students who demonstrate proficiency on standardizing reading and math exams to 70 percent from its current state at 43 percent.
For all of the city’s school woes, the preschool programs are something of a success story. Applications for the preschool, prekindergarten and out-of-boundary lottery rose nearly 10 percent this year to a record 7,299, with some programs swimming in prospective students: In Capitol Hill, Peabody Elementary’s preschool program received 563 applications.
Earlier this month, a study by the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University named the District the nation’s leader in access to quality preschool and prekindergarten seats. The District spends $11,665 on each of these students, more than any state but New Jersey — which outspent the District by $1.
But work remains to be done, Gray acknowledged.
Local nonprofit DC Appleseed found that, as of 2008, at least 1,200 lead teachers did not have a bachelor’s degree, and more than 1,000 assistant teachers failed to attain an associate’s degree or higher.
The mayor plans to announce a partnership of government agencies, philanthropists, businesses and nonprofit organizations Thursday to help the city reach these new goals, which include ensuring 90 percent of children will receive vision and hearing screenings in a timely manner and at least 75 percent of expecting mothers receive timely prenatal care.
The city also hopes that, by 2014, at least 90 percent of families with young children will have access to doctors.
