Keeping up on Policy

Early childhood education is making some great gains and has even greater potential for funding and developing to enhance public access in 2014. Recently, I received an email from NAEYC Children’s Champions in mid-January with the title: A Big Funding Win for Early Childhood – But We Need to Get it Passed by January 18!. According to NAEYC, the United States Congress needed to pass appropriation bills for the 2014 fiscal year, and with this came an omnibus (proposed law covering diverse or unrelated topics from multiple agencies) bill. Within this bi-partisan bill was $1.5 billion increase for early childhood education, post-sequestration levels, investing in access and quality. Some of the highlights from the bill, from the NAEYC website, includes:

• $1.025 billion increase for Head Start – this includes $400 million for Head Start and another $100 million for COLA, $25 million for re-designation activities, and $500 million for the expansion of Early Head Start and for new discretionary Early Head Start /Child Care Partnership grants;
• $154 million increase for the Child Care & Development Block Grant;
• $250 million for the preschool development grants;
• $158 million total for maintain the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy grants, which includes grants to local educational agencies and early childhood providers for literacy professional development and support for children from birth to kindergarten;
• $18 million increase for Part C early intervention grants; and
• $194 million increase for WIC. 

Also according to NAEYC Children’s Champions the passing of this bill:

“directs the U.S. Department of Education’s facilities clearinghouse ‘to collect, disseminate information on effective educational practices and the latest research regarding the planning, design, financing, construction, improvement, operation, and maintenance of safe, healthy, high-performance public facilities for early learning programs, kindergarten through grade 12, and higher education.’” 

ChildCare Aware also rang in on the bill reporting congress would begin voting on Wednesday, January 15^th with a extension until the 18^th to make a decision about passing the omnibus legislation, which merges 12 appropriation bills to form the Consolidated Appropriations Act of2014. The act includes an extensive list of priorities and include:

“significant new investments that support high quality early learning programs; a $1 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue research and begin new studies and trials; new investments in health grants to increase wellness in the community; funding to support the ‘Now is the Time’ violence prevention initiative with mental health first aid grants, allowing teachers to recognize students with mental illness early and refer them to treatment; and new funding to support innovation at colleges and universities,”

On Monday, January 13^th, 2014, Senator Barbara Mikulski, Senate Appropriations Chair, and Representative Hal Rogers, House Appropriations Chair, announced the spending bill agreement for the U.S. government through September 30, 2014. This immense bill sets spending for the 2014 fiscal year at over $1.012 trillion. The bi-partisan commitment to the bill makes it clear on both congressional and administrative levels that the federal government is committed to early childhood education 

Looking more deeply, the bill includes preschool development grants for states, as part of the Strong Start Proposal. In November 2013, ChildCare Aware reported, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Congressman George Miller (D-CA), who have collaborated on other bills such as the KeepingAll Students Safe Act, and Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) introduced the Strong Start for America’s Children Act. The legislation for Strong Start coincides with President Obama’s2014 Fiscal Year Budget proposal outlining: enhanced access for preschool and pre-k aged children, expanding partnerships between Early Head State and child care programs, as well as guidance for home visiting. According to ChildCare Aware reports 39 states and Washington D.C. currently offer state funded pre-K programs, and the Strong Start for America’s Children Act would enhance these programs while supporting new systems and programs in states without public pre-K. Overall, this bill hopes to ensure families with greater access to high quality childcare.

According to NAEYC Children’s Champion’s post on January14, 2014, the preschool grants outlined in the Strong Start bill will supply states with $250 million. By accepting these funds, states are expected, as outlined on the NAEYC site, to (the information is summarized and paraphrased based on the NAEYC site):

• Develop, enhance or expand high-quality preschool programs, including comprehensive services and family engagement.

• States have the choice to give some of the grant money to local education agencies and early learning providers such as Head Start or licensed daycares. The grants can also be subdivided to support groups of families who exist at or below 200% of the federal poverty line.

• Local grantees, whether school districts or community providers, must develop strong partnerships with each other.

• Appropriated funds should also be used to support early childhood educators’ attainment of higher education degrees and enhanced professional credentials.

• Child assessments must align with the National Research Councils recommendations based on their reports on early childhood.

• Education Secretary Arne Duncan may award two types of grants to states. Low-capacity grants will go to states with little or no state funding for preschool, and high-capacity grants will be for states with larger in-state funding pools.

• “Infant and toddler care will be supported through the fostering of partnerships new or existing Early Head Start with local center and family-based child care providers serving subsidized infants and toddlers, to provide training and technical assistance as well as funding to help child care programs meet the Early Head Start standards."

Websites to Consider:

• Council for Exceptional Children – Policy Insider

• ChildCare Aware America Website and Blogs – Policy News and Opportunities for Action Newsroom, Early Directions, Policy Blog

• NAEYC Public Policy page

• United States Senate HELP Committee (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) – StrongStart Legislation

• U.S Department of Education Website on IDEA grant applications

• U.S Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families -Office of Child Care - Policy News and Resources: Child Care Licensing Study 2011-2013, Affordable Care Act Webinar, Six States Awarded Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grants, Early Childhood Bipartisan Legislation Introduced