Entries for the 'News' Category

Friday, April 13, 2012 - Tulsa World
After years of leading the nation in access to prekindergarten programs for 4-year-olds, Oklahoma has fallen to second and rolled back its funding levels to what it was a decade ago, according to a national report.

March 1, 2012 - Education Week
A new study has found that "quality rating and improvement systems" designed to strengthen child care and early learning offer a road map to improvement, but need a few tweaks to be truly effective.

December 16, 2011
Today, the White House announced that nine states—California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington—will receive grant awards from the $500 million Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge fund, a competitive grant program jointly administered by the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services.

November 7, 2011 - The Grand Rapids Press
The U.S. Department of Education has announced a proposal to create the first ever Office for Early Learning, tasked with overseeing the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge Grants and coordinating early learning programs across the department.

March 10, 2011 — New York Times
US Senators are facing difficult funding decisions as they attempt to cut federal spending even popular programs such as Head Start, are not immune to funding cuts.

February 8, 2011 — New York Times
A recent review found that 10 major social programs had been rigorously evaluated over the past two decades, using the scientific gold standard of random assignment. Only one of the 10 — Early Head Start, for infants, toddlers pregnant women — was a clear success.

January 24, 2011 — Santa Fe New Mexican
Dozens of New Mexicans braved a brief snow shower at the Capitol on Monday to rally support for a proposal they believe would help raise school test scores, lower the dropout rate and curb teen pregnancy.

January 12, 2011 — Des Moines Register
Legislation being discussed in Iowa would remove funding for the state’s universal preschool program to help close a large budget gap.

November 16, 2010 — South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Fresh off its “Milk Party Tour” the Florida Children’s Movement now has its eyes set on the state capital to encourage lawmakers to support the healthy development of children.

November 4, 2010 — The Connecticut Mirror

October 19, 2010 — LA Times
California Assembly Speaker John Perez is currently working on a plan that would fund the state’s child care assistance program through January 2011.

October 18, 2010 — Macon.com
As one of a handful of states that included early childhood in their Race to the Top application, Georgia will be using a portion of its $400 million grant to help the state’s youngest learners.

October 1, 2010 — Associated Press
Last Thursday, Governor Schwarzenegger signed legislation that would require a student to be age 5 by September 1. The earlier cutoff date will save the state $700 million which will be used to create a pre-k program for those born after September 1.

September 23, 2010 — Catalyst Ohio
An article that looks at how states across the country fund early education.

September 8, 2010 — The Arizona Republic
In November, a ballot initiative put forth by the state legislature will decide the future of the state’s early child development program and whether its funds should be appropriated differently.

August 27, 2010 — Washington Post

August 26, 2010 — Washington Post
Head Start Founder, Ed Zigler, discusses the evolution and the future of child care policy.

August 24, 2010 — Department of Education
The Department of Education recently released the second round of Race to the Top grant funds, rewarding nine and states and the District of Columbia for their education reforms.

July 3, 2010 — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A new assessment of the child care quality in Georgia indicates that most young children are attending centers that don’t offer the environment they need to develop.

July 2, 2010 — Lansing State Journal

A group of lawmakers, early childhood professionals and parents have teamed up to increase funding for high quality early childhood programs in Michigan.

On June 10, 2010 the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Administration on Children and Families (ACF) released the first Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the new Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, created as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Affordable Care Act or ACA). Click the link above for more information or use CFDA # 93.505 on the Grants.gov website.

June 14, 2010 — San Francisco Chronicle
A bill currently working its way through the California state Legislature would move the current school cutoff date from December 2 to September 1 over a three year period resulting in a smaller age gap within grade levels and saving an estimated $700 million to the state over a year for thirteen year period.

June 9, 2010 — Gazetteonline
Governor Chet Culver of Iowa recently announced that an additional 4,500 children will be able to participate in the state’s preschool program thanks to legislative support of funding the last installment of the four-year, $60 million commitment to preschool.

May 17, 2010 — The Virginian-Pilot
With demanding hours and varying schedules, military parents often turn to non-traditional options for their child care needs.

April 26, 2010 — Connecticut Mirror

Parents and advocates in Connecticut are concerned that enrollment in the state’s child care subsidy program will be cut due to funding, as the legislature works to close budget gap of over $700 million.

April 25, 2010 — San Gabriel Valley Tribune
A quality rating and improvement system currently in use in some parts of California may soon be implemented statewide.

April 12, 2010 — Education Week

Despite recent setbacks early childhood advocates are hopeful that the 2011 budget will provide support for early childhood programs.

April 6, 2010 — Catalyst Chicago

Children attending public preschool in Chicago will soon participate in a program that will measure a student’s readiness for kindergarten.

March 24, 2010 — The Sun Herald
A new Educare center funded by the Buffett Early Childhood Fund along with a number of other national and local partners is scheduled to break ground this summer in Washington, D.C.

March 9, 2010 — the Des Moines
A new law in Iowa consolidates and makes changes to the state’s many early childhood programs in an effort to make them more efficient.
 

March 4, 2010 — Argus Leader
For the fourth consecutive year a bill that would lay the ground work for voluntary state-supported prekindergarten was killed in the South Dakota legislature.

March 4, 2010 — US Department of Education
Today the Department of Education announce 15 states and the District of Columbia as finalists in the department’s $4.35 billion grant program to reform the educational system.

February 23, 2010 — The Topeka Capital-Journal
An amendment being introduced in the Kansas Senate on Senate Bill 447 would increase the number of licensed child care operators and inspections in the state, according to its sponsor.

February 4, 2010 — Catalyst Chicago
Three Chicago area neighborhoods are working to get a piece of $210 million the President has pledged to support “Promise Neighborhoods” in the 2011 budget.

February 1, 2010 — The Topeka Capital-Journal
If passed Kansas Senate bill 447 will tighten licensing and requirements to help increase the safety of children in child care.

January 5, 2010 — Center for American Progress
In the complex effort to support stable, healthy families, home visiting programs have proven to be an important piece of the puzzle.

January 4, 2010 — PRNewswire
According to a recent study from Children Now, improvements to California’s child health and education policies are necessary to the state’s long term economic future.

December 9, 2009 — Georgetown University News
The US Secretaries of Health and Human Services, and Education recently agreed that more collaboration was needed between the two departments on early childhood education.
 

November 12, 2009 — U.S. Department of Education

The final application for the federal Race to the Top Fund grants has been released by the Department of Education. 

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently announced the Department’s priorities for grants under the $650 million Investing in Innovation Fund (i3). For more information visit the Department of Education’s website.

November 9, 2009 — Missoulian

The state of Montana is preparing to implement their new quality rating and improvement system, STARS, which will help parents pick high quality child care programs for their children.

September 19, 2009 — New York Times

A new initiative, proposed by the President and passed by the House, would send $8 billion to early learning programs over the next 2 years.

September 21, 2009 — Early Ed Watch Blog
The last in a seven part series, this piece look at the future of Head Start programs in the states.