The $100 million approved in the past legislative session for the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department will be used to create the largest expansion of the state’s pre-K program since the department was founded in 2005.
The funding, according to KOB, will be used to expand access to early childhood education, especially in rural areas; recruit more qualified teachers for those programs; and increase the number of hours three and four-year-olds will have in the classroom. The funding will also help build a cohesive, equitable, and responsive prenatal-to-five system that supports families, strengthens communities, and enhances child health, development, education, and well-being.
“Thousands of children and thousands of families will have access to high-quality pre-K in places they already have, but also in communities across the state that didn’t already have access to pre-K,” Elizabeth Groginsky, ECECD cabinet secretary told KOB.
The funding will be especially beneficial to rural areas in need of additional services.
“Different families have different needs, so we want to make sure we have pre-K in our early childhood centers in our schools and school-based programs, and our head starts and in our tribal communities,” Groginsky said.
The department will also increase the requirement that children are in the classroom from 900 to 1,080 hours. “We know from the research in our own state and nationally that investments in early childhood education is one of the best investments you can make in really turning the tide in so many challenges we face in New Mexico,” Groginsky said.
The changes, he said, could increase proficiency in reading and math, as well as improve the state’s graduation rate further down the road.
According to its website, the mission of the ECECD is to “optimize the health, development, education, and well-being of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers through a family-driven, equitable, community-based system of high-quality prenatal and early childhood programs and services.”
