Starting at Zero Podcast is LAUNCHED!

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26 Jul

Posted at 22:24h in News by

The Colorado Sun
By Erica Breunlin
July 26, 2023
A preschool in Greeley that has shepherded countless kids through the first years of their education over the past 21 years may welcome its last class of 4-year-olds next month, eyeing an uncertain future as it dives into the state’s newly expanded preschool program. Nearby, a different preschool that caters to mostly children of low-income families has only been able to fill a quarter of its classrooms for the start of the school year and...

26 Jul

Posted at 19:44h in News by

CBS Colorado
By Tori Mason
July 26, 2023
Preschool providers around the state are learning they won't get as much funding as they planned. The Department of Early Childhood is changing how they'll fund Universal Preschool. Previously, the state planned to fund preschools based on their capacity. Now, the department will fund preschools based on the number of students enrolled. Restoration Christian Academy in Aurora has space for 24 children, but currently, only 11 are enrolled. Director Shirley Harris has been hard at...

25 Jul

Posted at 00:06h in News by

Center on Child and Family Policy
By Katharine B. Stevens
July 24, 2023
Key Points
While proponents widely characterized BBB’s early care and education legislation as building on the core strengths of the existing federal childcare program — the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) — BBB actually mapped out a striking departure from it.
BBB would have greatly increased government regulation of early care and education, substantially reduced state flexibility and parental choice, institutionalized a federally defined concept of quality that has no...

20 Jul

Posted at 22:18h in News by

Detroit Free Press
By Clara Hendrickson
July 20, 2023
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an education budget Thursday that increases per-pupil spending, provides free school meals and enables more families to enroll in Michigan's state-funded preschool program. Whitmer celebrated the education budget saying it will ensure educational equity for children in Michigan. "We know that potential is universal, but opportunity is not. And when we make investments in the education of our kids, we're creating opportunity for all," Whitmer said at a bill signing ceremony in...

08 Jul

Posted at 23:54h in News by

Huffpost
By Jonathan Cohn
July 8, 2023
Sixteen 4-year-olds are standing side by side inside a brightly decorated classroom, grinning and giggling and fidgeting only a little bit as they prepare to sing about the sun. They are rehearsing a performance for their upcoming “graduation” from their year in one of Boston’s free pre-kindergarten programs. When the song starts, they move nearly in sync: rocking from one side to the other, putting their hands in the air to wave and then picking up...

27 Jun

Posted at 23:02h in News, Press, Zaentz Initiative by

EdSurge
By Emily Tate Sullivan
June 27, 2023
In late April, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis sat down at his desk to make some phone calls. The governor, on this day, was calling to deliver good news. He wanted to personally congratulate some of the 22,087 families who had matched with their first-choice provider for Colorado’s free, universal preschool program, which launches this fall. A parent named Katie, in Summit County, was among those who received a call from the governor. “Oh, thank you so much....

23 Jun

Posted at 23:11h in News, Press, Zaentz Initiative by

CBS Bay Area
By Kenny Choi
June 23, 2023
SAN FRANCISCO – There's a tug of war in San Francisco between Mayor London Breed's office and early education advocates over a voter-approved business tax and proposed budget cuts. For more than 30 years Andy Reed has been guiding children to see the world from different perspectives, make good decisions, and lay a solid foundation for their education. "It's always fresh. It's always a new discovery no matter how many years we've done it," said...

21 Jun

Posted at 23:08h in News, Press, Zaentz Initiative by

CBS Colorado
June 21, 2023
More than 2,700 families have accepted matches in the first two rounds of Colorado's Universal Preschool program. That's according to the Department of Early Childhood. Ninety percent of children were matched to their chosen providers. Children who are a year out from kindergarten are eligible for free preschool for up to 15 hours a week or about five half days. Families can go online, enter their information, and find providers either home-based, center-based, or school-based, and pick...

21 Jun

Posted at 16:44h in News by

The New York Times
By Claire Cain Miller, Alicia Parlapiano and Madeleine Ngo
June 21, 2023
For two years, the United States has been effectively running an experiment in federally funding child care providers. The $24 billion disbursed in pandemic relief has been the largest investment in child care in U.S. history. Child care providers have used the money to raise teachers’ pay, buy supplies and pay mortgages. In September, those funds expire, one of the last of the pandemic-era safety net benefits to...

20 Jun

Posted at 17:37h in News by

Boulder Daily Camera
By Amy Bounds
June 20, 2023
The Boulder County Commissioners on Tuesday voted 2-1 not to approve a proposal to create a special taxing district to fund early childhood education. The proposed special district would have encompassed the Boulder and Weld county areas of the Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley school districts. Weld County approved the proposal on Monday. If both counties had approved the proposal, organizers would have needed to collect signatures to get the measure included on the November...

20 Jun

Posted at 17:18h in News by

Axios Seattle
By Melissa Santos, Christine Clarridge and Astrid Galván
June 20, 2023
The average annual cost of sending a toddler to daycare in Washington tops $14,000, according to a new report — and it's about $2,100 more than sending your child to the University of Washington for a year. Why it matters: The report released last week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows how deeply families struggle to stay afloat while working and paying for child care — and how some have...

20 Jun

Posted at 17:13h in News by

Insider
By Sabina Wex
June 20, 2023
When Toi Smith's four boys were younger, she worked in corporate HR. Smith was a single mom and wasn't receiving child support from her kids' dads, so she qualified for food assistance and welfare. But even with her salary and subsidies, Smith couldn't afford childcare. Smith eventually found a somewhat affordable in-home daycare on Craigslist that cost $1,300 a month. That was the same amount as her rent. "It's a vicious cycle," Smith says. "You have to go...

08 Jun

Posted at 22:56h in News, Press, Zaentz Initiative by

Early Learning Nation
By Mark Swartz
June 8, 2023
In 1999, addressing AmeriCorps members on the program’s fifth anniversary, President Bill Clinton said, “There is no question that you are now an indispensable force for change in America.” The same year, when Kristi Givens went into the child care profession, she didn’t know she would someday cross paths with the national service program. The proprietor of three child care centers in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, Givens is cofounder with Rochelle Wilcox—a child care...

05 Jun

Posted at 22:40h in News by

KTTN News
June 5, 2023
Missourians scored some big wins for child care and pre-K programs in the 2023 legislative session, although some said it is just a start. Brian Schmidt, executive director of the group Kids Win Missouri, called it a “really exciting time” for child care and early childhood education in the state. He attributes a lot of the legislative gains, including a combined $160 million for childcare subsidies and pre-K programs, to the childcare crisis exacerbated by the COVID pandemic....

31 May

Posted at 22:46h in News by

New America
By Aaron Loewenberg
May 30, 2023
Back in February, we published a blog post highlighting four states poised to enact impactful early childhood education legislation. One of the four states we mentioned was Vermont due to momentum there in expanding child care subsidy eligibility, increasing provider reimbursement rates, and expanding access to pre-K for four-year-olds. Today, Vermont is on the brink of adding more than $120 million per year into their child care sector after the Vermont House and Senate passed...

31 May

Posted at 21:53h in News by

MPR News
By Elizabeth Shockman
May 31, 2023
Minnesota is putting more than $300 million in new spending toward early childhood initiatives, including early learning scholarships for low-income families, grow-your-own educator grants and a new state agency dedicated to youth and families. While Minnesota’s K-12 education system is overseen by the Minnesota Department of Education and funded to the tune of $23 billion, current early education funding and programming is overseen and funded through two different agencies: the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)...

27 May

Posted at 22:47h in News by

Chalkbeat Chicago
By Samantha Smylie
May 27, 2023
Early Saturday morning, Illinois lawmakers passed the 2024 budget with increases in funding for K-12 public schools, early childhood education, and college-bound students. The House pass the budget with a vote of 73 to 38. State legislators passed the $50.6 billion budget with a $570 million increase in K-12 spending, $250 million more for early childhood education, and over $100 million to support students heading to college and those who want to become teachers. The...

26 May

Posted at 22:51h in News by

Politico
By Eleanor Mueller
May 26, 2023
As debate over the debt ceiling continues to divide Capitol Hill, a small subset of bipartisan lawmakers are quietly banding together on a different issue: child care. Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are preparing to launch the Congressional Bipartisan Affordable Childcare Caucus, they tell Women Rule. Their hope: to excavate a shared path forward on making child care more affordable after Democrats slashed related provisions from their party-line spending package last year. “The goal...

24 May

Posted at 00:14h in News by

Bipartisan Policy Center
By Linda Smith, Jason Sabo, Lisa Kerber
May 22, 2023
This blueprint tells the tale of two states and how each are defying expectations within the realm of early childhood policy. Policymakers and legislators from both sides of the aisle, advocates, community organizers, parents, and philanthropists can borrow from the work of New Mexico and Alabama to expand access to quality child care. New Mexico is on the road to making child care a public good, like public education, and working...