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Business, military signal strong support for public preschool, but Republican lawmakers unswayed
Early childhood education advocates are working to make it clear that not everyone supporting President Barack Obama’s proposal to vastly expand federal funding for preschool and infant and toddler care is a tax-and-spend liberal. “This has become a bipartisan issue in the real world,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said recently in … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Featured, Funding and Taxation, Obama Preschool, Reporting & Analysis
Hillary Clinton to join San Francisco non-profit to promote early childhood education
A small San Francisco non-profit announced a heavy-weight addition to their team Friday: Hillary Clinton. Former Secretary of State Clinton and the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation will partner with Next Generation on an advocacy campaign supporting policies aimed at improving life for children from infancy to age 5. “Clinton will be very involved – she knows her stuff,” said Matt James, the president and co-founder of Next Generation. “She has an enormous credibility, especially with moms.” The new campaign, dubbed Too Small to Fail, aims to get businesses to support early education and create work-place policies to support working parents. They will also distribute research on early childhood development and provide families with information about best practices during the first five years of their children’s lives. The campaign will focus … Read entire article »
Filed under: Cognitive Development, Early Childhood, Obama Preschool, Quick Hits
Retired military admirals and generals support Obama’s preschool proposal
Investing more public money in preschool access for 4-year-olds is akin to improving the nation’s national security, according to a report released Tuesday by Mission: Readiness, an organization of retired admirals and generals. The report cites Department of Defense figures that say only 25 percent of the young men and women ages 18 to 24 qualify for enlistment in the military because they are either too obese, have a criminal record, haven’t finished high school or can’t pass the military entrance exam, among other factors. The Mission: Readiness report argues that the best long-term solution to this problem is to expand the access to and quality of early education with increased … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Obama Preschool, Quick Hits
California could get $350 million for preschool under federal proposal
California could nearly double its spending on public preschool with an influx of federal funding if the president’s proposal to significantly increase the money available for early childhood programs passes Congress, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday. Since President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address in January, early … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Featured, Obama Preschool, Reporting & Analysis
Duncan defends preschool funding proposal to House committee
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan appeared Tuesday before the House Education and Workforce Committee to promote what he called the “centerpiece” of the administration’s 2014 education budget proposal, the $75 billion plan to expand public preschool through a funding initiative that would encourage states to offer preschool to low-income and middle-class children. “What is the smartest use of our education dollars?” Duncan asked rhetorically during his remarks to the committee. “The answer, I believe, is that high-quality early learning is the best education investment we can make in our children, our communities, and our country.” While Duncan made a point of highlighting the bipartisan support for preschool by citing the Republican governors and voters who have supported expanded early education programs, the House Republicans on the committee were skeptical of the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Funding and Taxation, Obama Preschool, Quick Hits
California’s preschool access gap bigger than national average
One out of every four 3- and 4-year-old children in California is not enrolled in preschool of any kind, according to an interactive map created by the left-leaning Center for American Progress. The map, which uses U.S. Census Bureau data to illustrate how the “preschool access gap” varies across the country, puts California in the middle of the pack. California’s state-funded preschool program and Head Start combined only enroll 25 percent of the state’s preschool-age children, according to the interactive map. Another 31 percent are enrolled in private preschool. The rest, 44 percent, are not enrolled in any preschool program. The Center for American Progress has come out strongly in favor of the president’s plan to invest $75 billion over the next decade to help states provide preschool to every child. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Obama Preschool, Quick Hits
Obama budget would allocate $75 billion over next decade to preschool
In an ambitious and highly anticipated budget plan, President Barack Obama called Wednesday for allocating $75 billion over the next 10 years to expand public preschool by raising the federal tax on tobacco products. The plan offered the first concrete proposal for funding the “Preschool for All” initiative the president introduced in his State of the Union address in January. If approved, it would be the largest influx of federal funding for preschool since Head Start … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Featured, Obama Preschool, Reporting & Analysis
Obama wants tobacco tax to pay for universal preschool, New York Times reports
President Barack Obama will propose raising taxes on tobacco to fund his ambitious plan to provide preschool for every child, the New York Times reported Friday. Details of the proposed tax won’t be revealed until the president’s budget is released next week, but the article answers for the first time the question on advocates’ minds since the president floated free universal preschool during his State of the Union in January: How will he pay for it? Californians shouldn’t find that idea too much of a surprise since voters here passed a tobacco tax in 1998 to pay for the First Five Commission, which works to improve child care options in the state. Of course, one downfall of the plan, which has already been seen in California, is that the added tax does … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Obama Preschool, Quick Hits
Advocates launch state push for Obama’s early education plan
A campaign to support President Barack Obama’s universal preschool initiative was launched in Sacramento on Tuesday by early childhood education advocates, a coalition of superintendents from around the state and Assemblymember Susan Bonilla, D-Concord. At H. W. Harkness Elementary School in Sacramento, campaign leaders unveiled an open letter to the president, signed by 39 superintendents and 16 transitional kindergarteners, urging him to “craft a robust budget proposal to put our earliest learners first.” “It’s really saying (to Obama), ‘We are going to be there for you, so carry forth,’” said Catherine Atkin, executive director of Early Edge California, formerly Preschool California, which advocates for more money and higher quality in early education. The campaign has two aims: to help push Obama’s proposal to expand preschool through Congress and to put California on track … Read entire article »
Filed under: Child Care, Early Childhood, Kindergarten and Preschool, Obama Preschool, Quick Hits
Senators introduce preschool bills since State of the Union
Four new pieces of legislation aimed at expanding preschool nationally have been introduced in the U.S. Senate in the weeks since President Barack Obama made a call for universal preschool in his State of the Union address, according to Education Week. In the January address, Obama said the federal government would partner with states to expand public preschool offerings for 4-year-olds. Two pieces of proposed legislation closely mirror the president’s proposal to form partnerships, another suggests offering competitive grants to states to form or expand programs, and yet another focuses on increasing parents’ access to information on where to enroll in early childhood programs. Read the story on Education Week’s early childhood blog, The Early Years. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Obama Preschool, Quick Hits
Video Highlights from
2013 EdSource Symposium
Transforming Public Education: What's Next For
Students, Teachers and Schools
- In Partnership with the California State PTA -
May 4th symposium in San Jose featured a number of prominent speakers on key challenges in education today, including Linda Darling-Hammond, Martha Kanter, and Pedro Noguera.
You can find video of those speakers and more at our new YouTube channel by clicking below.
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