Early Ed Ascending
How Golden Apple and the State of New Mexico Are Stepping Up for Our Littlest Learners — And Their Teachers
When you imagine a classroom, what comes to mind? Rows of pint-sized desks and chairs? Book reports marked with star stickers decorating the wall? Equations on a smartboard?
A career in teaching may forever be associated with the K-12 classroom, but, as research makes clear, learning begins long before age 5. (In fact, 90% of a child’s brain has already developed by then.) In New Mexico over the past five years, policymakers have started to catch on, with dramatic results not only for families but for the teachers who care for our littlest learners.
With a cabinet-level early-childhood department, pay parity for teachers and caregivers, increased state funding for early-childhood programs, and a bevy of career-development opportunities, New Mexico has positioned itself as one of the best states in the nation in which to care for and teach young children. And Golden Apple is committed to supporting New Mexico with teacher training, stipends, and mentorship as the state scales its early childhood programs.
“Good policies, good programs, and a systems approach can truly change the lives of families and children,” said Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky, who heads New Mexico’s newly minted Early Childhood Education and Care Department. “I think we've shown that here in New Mexico in pretty profound ways.”
‘Everyone is Talking About Early Childhood’
The state’s investment in its youngest children ramped up beginning in 2019 — and it couldn’t have come at a more urgent time. Between 2012 and 2019, New Mexico ranked last or second to last in child welfare in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual Kids Count Data Book, the gold standard evaluation of how children and families are faring in each state.
After Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was elected in 2018, she created ECECD and tapped Groginsky to lead it. Since then, Groginsky has netted a series of high-profile wins for New Mexico’s young children, including:
Pay Parity: To attract more teachers to the field and ensure parity between preschool teachers and their K-12 counterparts, New Mexico began subsidizing early childhood educators’ salaries, putting thousands of extra dollars — as much as $20,000 each — in the pockets of hard-working teachers and administrators.
Increased Funding: In 2023, the governor signed off on $98 million in additional annual funding for Pre-K, with a goal of achieving universal access. The National Institute for Early Education Research, which ranks state pre-K programs, deemed the investment “historic” and predicted New Mexico will climb in its rankings in 2025. (The state ranked 13th in 2024.)
Building an Ecosystem of Support: With that extra $98 million comes increased support for teachers’ and caregivers’ professional development, including free coaching and mentorship programs. Groginsky and her team are also working to build a career ladder to promote educators’ advancement and specialization in their chosen fields.
With each new policy win, momentum has grown. Today, early childhood programs are a point of state pride, and early childhood professionals are finally getting the respect they know they deserve.
“This work is finally being elevated in the conversation,” Groginsky said. “Legislators, the executive, community partners, K-12 educators — everyone is talking about early childhood. The early-childhood workforce is receiving the recognition and support it deserves.”
Groginsky and her team are working to ensure that early childhood teachers and caregivers receive compensation to match that recognition, and they’re “on track to do that,” Groginsky said. For years, teachers of the youngest children have been underpaid nationwide, earning $.43 on the dollar in 2024 compared to their counterparts in K-12 classrooms.
Programs like pay parity are helping to erase that trend and attract high-quality educators to fill employment gaps.
Where Golden Apple Shines
Still, there’s more to be done — and Golden Apple and other nonprofit organizations are stepping up to support the state’s efforts.
Golden Apple launched its Scholars Program in New Mexico in 2022. Julie Lucero, the state’s chief program officer, said it felt like the stars were aligning for positive change.
“We found ourselves at the intersection of great need and great opportunity,” she said. “And we knew we could make a difference.”
When it comes to system-wide change, results can be slow to manifest. (The state again ranked 50th in the 2024 Kids Count Data Book.) But Groginsky and Lucero both said they remain hopeful for the future. New Mexico, they said, is a great place to start a career in early childhood education.
“There are so many important roles you can play,” Groginsky said. “It’s an emerging field that has a lot of exciting career opportunities.”
Groginsky and her team are working to attract 2,500 new professionals to the field in order to expand pre-K access to every 3-year-old in the state and to meet the needs of babies and young toddlers. (Four-year-olds already have universal access thanks to that $98 million infusion.)
Golden Apple is preparing high-quality teachers — many of whom are interested in careers in early childhood — to meet this demand. When they enter the classroom, they’ll have a significant leg up. Golden Apple supports its Scholars with a financial stipend, instruction by highly trained teachers, and ongoing mentorship in the field post-graduation.
“We know from experience that the more we support our aspiring teachers and the more we encourage their development, the more likely they are to stay in this profession and make a difference in the lives of their students,” Lucero said. “Because the waves of public opinion and state support of early-childhood programs are cresting simultaneously here in New Mexico, we feel especially optimistic about the future.”
To learn more about the Golden Apple Scholars Program in New Mexico, and to support our vision of an exceptional teacher for every New Mexico student, visit www.goldenapple.org/scholars-new-mexico.