This is a historic moment for our youngest children, and for early childhood education in America. President Obama has called it the first pillar of reforming schools and challenged states to develop plans to raise quality and prepare children for success by the time they enter kindergarten.1 He’s called recent investments in the federal recovery act and the proposed FY 2010 budget “down payments” on his commitment to support young children and their parents.2
These federal policy developments present a major opportunity to fulfill the hopes and potential of millions of vulnerable California children and families during challenging budget times in our state. It is critical that policymakers in California, home to almost 13 percent of the nation’s young low-income children, make investments, develop policies and utilize federal funding to strengthen California’s high-quality early learning system.3
The President’s Early Learning Promise
President Obama has a comprehensive Zero to Five plan that offers significant opportunities for states to fund and improve early childhood education through initiatives including:4
- creating an Early Learning Challenge Fund that would help states create or expand high-quality early care and education programs for children from birth to age five;
- quadrupling the number of children in Early Head Start;
- working to ensure all kids have access to preschool;
- providing affordable, high-quality child care to promote child development and ease the burdens of working families; and
- creating a Presidential Early Learning Council to increase collaboration and program coordination across federal, state and local levels.
Early Education in the Economic Recovery Package
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) passed by Congress and signed by President Obama includes more than $5 billion in early care and education funding that creates new jobs, gets families back to work and gives California an opportunity to invest in early education programs. California policymakers must act quickly and thoughtfully to invest in effective programs that help close the achievement gap and fuel the long-term economic health of our communities.
The Act, which could mean more than $500 million for early care and education in California, includes:
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- $2.1 billion for Head Start, including $1.1 billion for Early Head Start and $1 billion for Head Start;
- $2 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, the existing federal program that helps states to meet child care needs, including funding to support investments in quality;
- $900 million for early childhood education services for the nation’s special needs children;
- $13 billion for funding public education in areas with high concentrations of low-income children; and
- $53.6 billion to help states pay, among other things, education costs, some portion of which could be used for early childhood education.
Looking Ahead: What’s In Store for Early Childhood Education
President Obama’s fiscal year 2010 budget proposal included over $1 billion in funding for new and existing programs supporting early education. President Obama proposed investments include $300 million for a new Early Learning Challenge Fund to help states create, expand or enhance high-quality early care and education programs; $500 million for new Title I Early Childhood Grants and a $122 million cost of living increase in Head Start and Early Head Start funding.6
On the horizon, other federal policy and advocacy opportunities may include:
- creating a new Presidential Early Learning Council;
- establishing an Early Learning Challenge Fund;
- continuing work to maximize ARRA funding for early education;
- advocating to ensure the FY2010 budget maximizes new and existing investments in early education; and
- reauthorizing No Child Left Behind and the Child Care and Development Block Grant.
California has long led the nation in generating innovative ideas. We must seize this opportunity to become a national leader in early childhood education by securing these new funds and ensuring they are well spent on a high-quality early learning system. In doing so, we can usher in a new era of support for our next generation.
1 The White House (March 10, 2009). Remarks of the President to the United States Hispanic Chamber.
2 Office of Management and Budget (2009). The 2010 Budget: Department of Health and Human Services. p. 4.
3 National Center for Children in Poverty. Demographics of Young, Low-Income Children.
4 Obama for America (2008). Barack Obama and Joe Biden's Plan for Lifetime Success Through Education.
5 Pre-K Now (2009). American Recovery and Investment Act: Provisions Pertaining to Early Childhood Education. March 10, 2009.
Child Care Law Center (2009). Childcare and Develpoment Funds for California in the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009.
6 Office of Management and Budget (2009). A New Era of Responsibility: The 2010 Budget.
Pre-K Now (2009). Excerpts from the President's FY10 Budget Summary.
