Ready 4 K: July 2009

More resources to states in support of early care and education are one step further in the political process. Demonstrating a strong commitment to early childhood, Congress is proposing $8 billion over eight years to states in the form of Early Learning Challenge Grants. The Early Learning Challenge Grants are part of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (also known as SAFRA or HR 3221). SAFRA passed the House Education and Labor Committee today with a 30-17 vote. The Early Learning Challenge Grants are under Title IV of SAFRA.

What does this bill do?

The focus of this legislation is to encourage states to develop a comprehensive quality early learning system for children birth to five, particularly for children who are at risk of starting school not fully prepared. The system needs to include:

Early Learning Standards Reform
Evidence-based program quality standards.
Enhanced program review and monitoring of program quality.
Comprehensive professional development.
Coordinated system for facilitating screenings for disability, health, and mental health needs.
Improved support to parents.
Process for assessing children’s school readiness.
Use data to improve child outcomes.

There will be two types of challenge grants, Quality Pathways grants for states that already have many of the system components in place and Development grants for states that have pieces of a system but need resources to move to a comprehensive system. States can use the grants to further several aspects of a quality early learning system such as professional development of the early learning workforce, a quality rating system, improving the quality of programs, parent outreach and coordination with other programs that serve children and families. Because of the comprehensive nature of the system, all types of early learning settings would be eligible to receive resources including child care, Head Start and school based programs.

What does this mean for Minnesota?

This will mean more resources for our state to help more kids start kindergarten fully prepared. Minnesota has pieces of a quality early learning system and federal resources will help families and children be able to access higher quality early childhood opportunities.

What’s next?

The bill will need to be heard by the full House and take a floor vote. The Education and Labor Committee is hoping to take the bill to a floor vote before Congress takes their August Recess. A companion bill has not yet been introduced in the Senate. The earliest this will happen is this fall. A Senate version will need to be heard in committees and voted on by the full Senate before going to a Conference committee and eventually being signed by President Obama.

What can you do?

Call your Congressperson and urge them to support the Early Learning Challenge Fund in H.R. 3221.

You can contact your Congressperson by calling the U.S. House at (202) 224-3121.

The Message: Please support the Early Learning Challenge Fund as part of the higher education student loan program changes in H.R 3221. It will provide a significant increase in resources for improving the quality of early childhood education in Minnesota. Raising the quality of early learning and development wherever children spend their time is important to their school and lifelong success.

See our Action Alert page for more information.

Links and resources

On Monday July 20, several national groups held a conference call with Dr. Ruth Friedman, Senior Education Policy Advisory to the House Committee on Education and Labor. You can find an audio recording and transcript of the call here.

There is also a summary of the Early Learning Challenge Grants put out by the House Education and Labor Committee and the full text of the legislation.

Today and tomorrow I'm participating in the National Civic Summit, put on by Secretary of State Mark Richie, the Citizen's League and the Minnesota League of Women Voters and sponsored by Target, Best Buy, Blue Earth Interactive, the Midwest Democracy Network, and Genral Mills.

As the Civic Engagement Specialist at Ready 4 K, I get excited about how we can work together to strengthen our communities for young children through shared participation. I strongly believe that we all need to work together to create social change and we all have a roll to play in making it happen.

Presenters from around the country are gathering to discuss how we can create a civil civic society. The opening keynote was given by Nate Garvis (@nategarvis) as he discussed how we can create a civic society were process is more important than issues. We as citizens can’t just be customers of government, we have to be the co-producers. We get the government that we create and it’s time for all sectors of society - nonprofits, business, education, faith - come together to create a process that benefits as many people as possible.

Themes throughout this summit include:

• Voter engagement and participation

• The role of social media in democracy

• Working toward a common good and building strong connections

The National Civic Summit is free and open to the public. If you are in the Twin Cities, stop by the Minneapolis Hilton and join us. If you are not able to be here in person, join the discussion online at http://www.nationalcivicsummit.com/ or by following @civicsummit09 on twitter.

-kat

ps- don't forget to also check out Ready 4 K on twitter @ready4k and Facebook facebook.com/ready4k