More Georgia pre-k teachers stick with it

Sept. 30-Oct. 4 is the state’s official Pre-K Week, hosted by the nonprofit advocacy group Voices for Georgia’s Children and its Pre-K Week partners.

Pat Willis, executive director of Voices for Georgia's Children: "Georgia's pre-k program is an exceptional program that can serve as a model for our country. About 84,000 4-year-olds in Georgia benefit from this remarkable program, a milestone in the critical phase of education that takes place from birth to age eight."

Bobby Cagle, commissioner, Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning: "Research shows that the early education of children from birth to age five proves critical to their success in kindergarten and elementary school. As a result, we believe investing in our youngest learners is important not only to their personal success but also to the long-term economic growth and potential of Georgia."

Georgia’s pre-kindergarten teachers are no longer rushing for the exit door now that cuts to the program’s school year — and thus to their salaries — have been rescinded, new data shows.

Eighty-one percent of last year’s lead teachers, and 74 percent of assistant teachers are back this year teaching pre-k, according to data compiled by the state for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

That’s a dramatic turnaround from two years ago, when about a third of pre-k teachers including many seasoned veterans left the program between school years.

The mass exodus followed sizable budget cuts that Gov. Nathan Deal said were needed to ensure the long-term viability of pre-k and the HOPE scholarship, programs funded almost exclusively by state lottery ticket sales.

The cuts included slashing the pre-k year from 180 days to 160, cutting most teachers’ pay by about 10 percent and eliminating hundreds of pre-k classes by adding two students to each class that remained.

Deal later reversed himself, pushing to restore 10 of the 20 school days in 2012 and the remaining 10 days this year. With that, the state pay for certified lead teachers has rebounded from a low of $30,081 in 2012 to $33,072 for the fiscal year that started July 1. Assistant teachers are now making $13,202 a year, up from $12,008, according to Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, the agency over pre-k.

The larger class sizes remain.

Some program leaders and advocates have warned that it could take years for Georgia pre-k to rebound from the loss of many veteran teachers in 2011.

“It will take time to recover,” said Steve Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University.

But he said the slowdown of teacher departures is “a substantial improvement.”

“It would be nice if if the teachers who left in (the) fall 2011 would come back,” said Pat Willis, executive director of the advocacy group Voices for Georgia’s Children.

State officials and advocates probably need to put most of their attention now on keeping the current pre-k teachers, to increase the program’s overall level of teaching experience, Willis said.

After the budget cuts in 2011, 57 of Fulton County School’s 77 pre-kindergarten teachers quit. The majority of those who left — 47 — moved into teaching jobs in kindergarten through fifth grade, where salaries aren’t tied to the Georgia Lottery’s success.

Between last school year and this school year the district retained 39 of its pre-k teachers, or 51 percent, said Susan Hale, school system spokeswoman.

Fulton’s program had two teachers return from K-5 this year, “not because of pay but because they enjoy teaching pre-k students,” she said.

Statewide, the program lost 32 percent of its lead teachers and 34 percent of assistant teachers after the cuts were made and before the start of the 2011-2012 school year.

Leaders in early education research have long given Georgia credit for being the first state in the nation to establish a pre-kindergarten program 20 years ago that is open to all 4-year-olds regardless of family income.

Pre-k teacher retention rates

*2011-2012 school year was the first year that major program cuts occurred, including to teacher salaries

Pre-K enrollment

Students enrolled in pre-k and on pre-k waiting in metro Atlanta:

Source: Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning

Pre-k 2014 pay rates in metro Atlanta

Salaries and benefits for lead teachers and assistant teachers:

Source: Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning