The number of Maine four-year-olds who are enrolled in public pre-school has returned to near pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report from the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University.
Allison Friedman-Krauss, assistant research professor at the Institute, says 41% of Maine four-year-olds go to public preschool. But as the state moves towards universal pre-K, she says that percentage should be doubled.
"So we think like 70 to 80%, or a similar percentage of children who are in kindergarten and first grade are what you want to aim for," says Friedman-Krauss.
One issue nationwide is a shortage of qualified teachers. And that, she says, is likely due to low pay.
"Improving pay parity, improving benefits to teachers, I think, is really the key here," she says.
Friedman-Krauss says Maine should also consider increasing the minimum 10 hours a week it currently guarantees for public pre-school.
The report gave Maine pre-schools high scores for quality, meeting nine out of 10 benchmarks.
