An Investment in Early Childhood is an Investment in Our Future
Dr. Kishimoto
Secretary Cooper, it’s so exciting to see you. Just a few weeks ago, I saw you at ECS [Education Commission of the States] in Washington, DC.
Secretary Cooper
Yes. It was last week, and it has gone by so quickly. And I’m right back in the throes of the work here in Alabama.
Dr. Kishimoto
There’s no time to breathe. We have to keep going to the next issue. There’s a lot of work to do in public education and in your area of early childhood. There’s a lot of work nationally to do.
Secretary Cooper
Absolutely, yes. We need to continue to push the needle so that we continue to expand this work and provide more opportunities for children to participate in these early learning programs.
Dr. Kishimoto
I know you’ve been in your seat as Secretary of Early Childhood in Alabama for the last two years. And certainly, you have a deep bench of experience, and folks around you have been dedicated to early childhood in Alabama. So I’d love to start with your story about your appointment and how that came about.
Secretary Cooper
I have served in other roles supporting Governor Ivey’s Strong Start Strong Finish Education Initiative, from birth through grade 12, and her Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce transformation. I also led her Campaign for Grade-Level Reading work and served on the Computer Science Advisory Council for the Computer Science Initiative and the STEM Council. And so, in 2020, Governor Ivey appointed me as the Secretary of the Department of Early Childhood Education. I was not new to the department. I served at the Office of School Readiness, which implements the first class pre-K program. But this calling certainly has afforded me an opportunity to continue moving forward with this great work that was started in Alabama years ago.
Dr. Kishimoto
So the appointment by Governor Ivey to your Secretary level role caught my attention because not all states have a role at the state level focused on early childhood that’s a Secretary-level position. When did that happen in Alabama?
Secretary Cooper
That is correct. And actually, we had a name change. The department was the Department of Children Affairs in 1999. But in 2015, the department was renamed the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. And the role of the Commissioner became a Secretary role that was an appointment by the Governor. So the cabinet-level position would elevate this work and allow us to strengthen a goal that we extend to expand the first-class pre-K program in our state.
Dr. Kishimoto
For me, the work of early childhood is so personally important because I see it as a significant equity issue. And we’d love your take on that perspective of early childhood being part of a larger equity agenda.
Secretary Cooper
It absolutely is an equity agenda. And we have made it very clear throughout this work in our state that we would continue to advance early childhood and make sure that this program was offered to disadvantaged children and those in advantaged situations. In the realm of equity, it’s very important that we bring this opportunity to children at the earliest age possible. We know that when they have high-quality, early learning experiences, the work we pour into them in those early years continues to expand, and we continue to grow upon that work. We can’t close these gaps if we don’t have these opportunities to work with our children at the very earliest stages possible. So we give them a fair advantage. We give them an opportunity to be successful when we bring them into these pre-K classrooms and give them an opportunity to work with teachers and grow with them so that when they enter K-12 systems, they’re ready to be successful.
Dr. Kishimoto
And certainly, there’s an equity side regarding women returning to the workforce. We hear the national conversation about the impact in certain states, certainly, in my home state of Hawaii. The delay of women returning to the workforce has become very evident because of the lack of access to safe childcare and quality pre-K programming. And so there’s also a gender equity side to this.
Secretary Cooper
I totally agree with you, Dr. K. There is definitely an equity side to it. We know that the gaps have widened academically for children and economically for families as they have experienced this pandemic. As we come out of it, we continue to see those gaps widening even more. We know that the pandemic created a financial crisis for families. Many have to make some really tough decisions about whether or not they’re going to stay home to be able to take care of their children or, in some cases, take lower paying jobs so that they can have more flexibility to take care of their children. Unfortunately, this burden and work often fall on the backs of women because they’re usually the primary caretaker of children. And so they have to make unfair decisions about, ‘will I be able to work or must I stay home to take care of my child’. In some cases, what’s extremely concerning is they have to decide whether they’re going to put their child into a setting that might not be the best setting for a child to continue that care and early education. So, I feel that women are unfairly impacted by things such as what we recently experienced, which creates equity challenges for them.
Dr. Kishimoto
This is why the work in Alabama really stands out. I know you are one of about five states leading the nation in focusing on early childhood through intentional policy structures that have allowed you to increase the number of pre-K seats over time. I looked at your data from 2005, and you were meeting about 2% of the demand with just over $3 million for early childhood education. And when I looked at your data this year, you’re meeting well over 40% of the demand, almost 50%. And you have hundreds of millions of dollars going into this work. So tell me how that happened. And what was behind that?
Secretary Cooper
Yes, that definitely happened. We had a very specific goal that we wanted to expand pre-K access in Alabama. As you have indicated, we implemented a program that, in 2005, only served 2% of our population, which cost us roughly $3 million. And this year, we will spend over $152 million on our first class pre-K program. This work happened because we had a vision, leadership, and a very clear goal about what we wanted to do with regard to expanding our pre-K program. We started this whole program around incremental expansion. We did not do this overnight. We recognized that there were so many things we needed to do to have the quality we wanted in these programs. And so, we have incrementally expanded to reach our goal of having close to 48% access this year. This plan was developed in 2010, and we’ve remained committed. Our goal is to have 70% access by 2026. The one thing we have not been willing to give up is the quality we experience in our programs. We want to ensure the workforce is ready for us to have 70% access. So we work very closely with our institutions of higher learning to have conversations about the types of programs that pre-service teachers need, to be able to walk into those classrooms and deliver the quality that we expect our children to receive.
Dr. Kishimoto
Secretary Cooper, that intentionality of policy focus on early childhood and the funding that comes with that is quite impressive. You can see how the state is well on its way to meeting its goal. What will it take to continue this work? Is there a partnership with others, such as the private sector? Who are the players that are helping to make this happen?
Secretary Cooper
Yes, it is very important that as we continue this work, we be intentional in that outreach. We are out in the field seeking opportunities to have those conversations with the private sector. Because as you can imagine, as we continue to grow, our programs are needed in all delivery types. So we’re having those conversations with faith-based organizations, businesses, private organizations, community-based organizations like YMCA and YWCA, universities, and HeadStart. This truly is going to take an all-hands-on-deck approach. Everyone must be committed to this opportunity that we have in our state to continue to grow pre-K. Everyone must recognize that this goal ultimately helps our economy. Investing in our youngest citizens gives us the opportunity to become very competent in knowing that these children are going to continue into a K-12 setting and on into post-secondary, and ultimately become the types of leaders that we need for tomorrow and citizens that we need to be able to meet the demand of the workforce and industries that are coming to our state. So it’s absolutely critical that everyone works together to fulfill the needs and demands for these opportunities from our youngest learners.
Dr. Kishimoto
The state of Alabama has been at this for a while. So having a sustained initiative like this impacts families and our youngest learners in the state of Alabama. Certainly, at this point, the initiative has outcomes you can measure and see, which helps to continue to build that support for that momentum needed towards that goal of 70% or more. So, what are some of those outcomes that help make the case that this policy agenda makes sense?
Secretary Cooper
Yes, and that is something that we have an opportunity to continue to push annually. When entering our legislative session, we are meeting with our legislators and sharing data demonstrating that what children are receiving in our first class pre-K classrooms is making a difference. We have data that shows that children participating in the Alabama first class pre-K program are more likely to be proficient in reading and math, less likely to have disciplinary challenges, less likely to need special ed, or be chronically absent from school. We have a study that was done on some of our earlier classrooms where children had moved on into the middle school years, and we’re demonstrating that those children are continuing with those gains. So, long term, we know that an investment in early learning has a very positive impact on children, and the data supports it.
Dr. Kishimoto
That’s very compelling data. And it helps with the work moving forward for you as the person leading this right now. I’d love to hear why you’re so passionate about this. Why do you choose to do this work in early childhood at this point in your career?
Secretary Cooper
I choose to do this work. And this work is my calling. I had an opportunity to spend over 25 years in K-12 settings across this country. I’ve worked in the west, the Midwest, and the south. Understand firsthand that investments in K-12 are absolutely needed. But the work I’ve been able to do in early childhood has shown me that this is where we get the big bang for the buck. Suppose we can ensure that when children walk into a K-12 setting, they are already prepared and ready to meet the demands of that kindergarten class. In that case, we do a great service to those children and the teachers because they have the prerequisite skills necessary to function in this environment. We won’t spend the time that is unfortunately needed to close gaps. We want to close these gaps before children walk into our K-12 setting. And working in early childhood and investing in early childhood provides us the opportunity to do just that for our youngest citizens.
Dr. Kishimoto
Secretary Cooper, very well said. Who wants to spend 12 years trying to mitigate these gaps in learning because we didn’t invest early enough? And when children are ready cognitively to learn at this level, to start developing their vocabulary, engagement skills, and love of learning, it’s just a win-win to invest in early childhood education.
Some states are not moving at the pace of Alabama and don’t have that kind of history. And we have a number of states who have your outcome numbers from 2005. So you’re well ahead of many states, policy-wise, outcome-wise, and investment-wise. So what would you advise those states? What would you share with them to have them change their mindset around thinking about early childhood investment?
Secretary Cooper
I would certainly encourage them to prioritize investments in early childhood education because data supports that it makes a difference. And when they are ready to move forward, I would encourage them to identify and stick with a goal. As I have shared, we have incrementally expanded our program, which has allowed us to continue to have the high quality upon which the program was established. We’re able to have the types of partnerships and advocacy. And most importantly, over three governors in Alabama have supported early childhood education. Our legislators recognize this as a bipartisan issue, and everyone comes to the table realizing that making an investment in early childhood education for Alabama children makes a difference. And having that type of collaboration helps us continue to move the program forward. We also make sure that we have the support for the educators. It’s been critical that we have those coaches and monitors who can go into those classrooms and provide that one-on-one job-embedded support for our teachers. The real work is happening in the classrooms. So we must make those investments that allow us to lift the teaching profession and provide them with the pay they deserve. Our teachers receive pay parity and ongoing support that enables us to continue to grow this program to realize that goal, which is 70% by 2026.
Dr. Kishimoto
We want to congratulate you and thank you for serving on the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) board. NAEYC is an important national board that has really elevated the expectations, the standards, and the outcomes in early childhood education. I would love to hear what your vision is for yourself moving forward. What can we expect from Secretary Cooper in the next few years?
Secretary Cooper
I would say my vision is to continue to grow the work we have done here in Alabama. I want for Alabama’s children, what I want for my children, and what I want for my grandchildren. Every child should have an opportunity to participate in a high-quality early learning experience. I know firsthand the benefits of having an opportunity to participate in Head Start as a young child, and I know it made a difference for me. And I want the children in Alabama, our future leaders, to be afforded these early learning opportunities that will absolutely make a difference in their lives.
Dr. Kishimoto
Secretary Cooper, I thank you for the time you shared with me your vision for Alabama. It’s a vision we should collectively have for our nation’s children across the states and all of our territories. Our children deserve to be invested in early and deserve to go into school ready to learn. So, again, I thank you for the tremendous work you and your predecessors have done in the great state of Alabama. Thank you for your commitment to our children and to all children across the nation with your national work as well.
Secretary Cooper
Thank you for this opportunity, and I look forward to continuing the conversation with you as well.
