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CBS News Colorado
By Shaun Boyd
September 21, 2023
State lawmakers grilled administrators of Colorado's Universal Pre-School program at a hearing at the State capitol. The Legislature's Joint Budget Committee called the hearing. It approved $135 million for the program on top of $190 million from nicotine taxes approved by voters. The state promised the money would cover up to 30 hours of free pre-school for all low-income kids but then backtracked at the 11th hour, leaving families scrambling. Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer demanded to know why...

21 September, 2023 /

MPR News
By Kyra Miles
September 20, 2023
The first three years of childrens’ lives are shaped by a wide range of social factors. The Zero to Three LEARN conference held at the Minneapolis Convention this week tackled a number of those factors, including racial disparities in postpartum depression to climate change. Over the last two days, thousands of early childhood professionals gathered to discuss how to best serve children and families. And this year’s big themes are focused on the impact COVID-19...

20 September, 2023 /

Time Magazine
By Nik Popli
September 15, 2023
The emergency childcare funding Congress allocated during the pandemic is set to expire at the end of the month, raising concerns for the millions of families and childcare providers who relied on it over the last two years. The funding, part of the American Rescue Plan Act that congressional Democrats passed in 2021, included $24 billion in childcare stabilization grants, offering a financial reprieve to providers grappling with the multifaceted challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic....

15 September, 2023 /

Boston Globe
By Nancy Shohet West
September 15, 2023
Parents might gauge their child’s progress in preschool by how many letters they recognize, which shapes they can draw, or how comfortably they play with peers. But when Corey Marcotte of Littleton looks back at daughter Evie’s first year of preschool at Good Pickin' Farm in Westford, success is all about the chickens....

15 September, 2023 /

Forbes
By Allison Robinson
September 14, 2023
For working parents, this September doesn’t just spell the start of the new school year — it also marks the end of childcare funding via the American Rescue Plan. Known as the “childcare cliff,” this act’s expiration means the withdrawal of $24 billion in federal funding for childcare. Without those funds, over 3 million American children may lose access to care. This is problematic for millions of families who depend on that care and the caregivers for...

14 September, 2023 /

Baltimore Fishbowl
By Sponsored Staff
September 11, 2023
Since 2016, the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media at Johns Hopkins University has run a fellowship program supporting Maryland’s early-career artists in filmmaking and technology-based media. These fellows represent the vibrancy and urgency of Baltimore-grown storytelling, leading the charge in the creative renaissance of the city, and contributing to economic renewal. The recent commitment of $3.1 million dollars by the Saul Zaentz Foundation, disbursed across the next three years, ensures funding for...

11 September, 2023 /

The New York Times
By Eliza Shapiro and Asmaa Elkeurti
September 11, 2023
Not long after Crystal Springs started her new job at a large insurance company in Midtown Manhattan earlier this year, she realized that a much bigger chunk of her paycheck than she expected was going directly to child care for her 5-year-old daughter. Ms. Springs had dreamed that the job, which allowed her and her husband to make about $200,000 a year combined, would help provide a comfortable middle-class life for...

11 September, 2023 /

The New York Times
By Camilo Ortiz and Lenore Skenazy
September 4, 2023
A colleague in suburban Kentucky let his 12-year-old daughter walk two houses down to her friend’s place. At the end of the play date, the other girl’s mom walked her home, just to be safe. Such excessive caution is hardly unusual — over the past several decades, children have become less and less independent. Instead of running outside to play after school or riding their bikes around “Stranger Things”-style, they’re more...

05 September, 2023 /

WDRB.com
By Katrina Nickell
September 1, 2023
Louisville, KY – Parents with preschoolers in Jefferson County Public Schools' Early Childhood Education program are still working to find child care. The program's first day was set for Aug. 23. But the day before, the district announced the start would be delayed for "at least" two weeks. But no new start date has been announced yet, as the district works to figure out logistical issues. JCPS initially postponed the program's start as it worked on fixes for...

01 September, 2023 /

CBS 21
By Maxine Rose
September 1, 2023
York County, PA – Back to school can be stressful. Just ask Tori Allison, a former early childhood education teacher. “The education field is always changing. We’re learning new things, like, years ago, we didn’t know how important social and emotional development was," said Tori Allison, who has a background in early childhood education. Struggling to build her life, while also achieving her career goals, Allison says she found herself stuck between a rock and a hard...

01 September, 2023 /

Wilmington Biz
By Jenny Callison
September 1, 2023
It’s not news that the demand for high-quality, affordable child care exceeds the supply. In July of this year, the White House released data showing that nearly 60% of children under age 6 in the United States spend time in nonparental care on a regular basis. The same report stated that, in 2019, almost 75% of center-based providers had more requests than capacity, and more than 75% of households that searched for care had a...

01 September, 2023 /

News Channel Nebraska Central
Michael Shively
September 1, 2023
A Nebraska nonprofit is set up at one of the biggest stages in the state to raise awareness for its cause. We Care for Kids is operating an informational booth and display inside the Nebraska Building at the Nebraska State Fair. The Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative is helping out with the campaign. Program manager Ilissa Talkington says one of its goals is to share the importance of early childhood education. “It’s a huge opportunity to really...

01 September, 2023 /

WCAX 3 Vermont
By Melissa Cooney
August 31, 2023
BURLINGTON, VT – Vermont’s groundbreaking Childcare and Early Childhood Education law, or Act 76, is now in place for Vermont families and providers, doubling the amount of financial assistance for families. The act makes a major investment in child care with the goal of increasing access, quality, and financial stability for child care programs and families. DCF Deputy Commissioner Janet McLaughlin says imminent changes will impact child care programs directly and parents indirectly. In July, most programs...

31 August, 2023 /

Cision PR Newswire
Provided by the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative
August 22, 2023
The Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education today launched the Zaentz Navigator, an innovative, user-friendly, and interactive digital tool to help policymakers and leaders learn how cities and states across the country are working to structure, finance, expand, and advance early education and care. The Navigator is appearing at a time when it is needed most. Record spending on early education as part of...

22 August, 2023 /

Axios Indianapolis
By Arika Herron
August 16, 2023
Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch is all in on universal pre-K. Driving the news: Crouch told Axios on Tuesday that if she is elected governor next year she would push lawmakers to move Indiana's state-funded pre-K program, On My Way Pre-K, toward universal access more quickly. "We can't get there overnight because, quite honestly, we don't have the infrastructure or the people to be able to do that," she said. "But I think, because of the importance of...

16 August, 2023 /

Center on Child and Family Policy
Early Matters Podcast
With Katharine B. Stevens, James Heckman and Jorge Garcia
August 11, 2023
In this inaugural episode of the Center on Child and Family Policy's new podcast, Katharine Stevens interviews renowned economists James Heckman and Jorge Luis Garcia about their collaborative research on the transformational power of early childhood interventions to build human capital, and their new paper, "Parenting Promotes Social Mobility Within and Across Generations." They discuss what's essential to conducting rigorous research in social science;...

11 August, 2023 /

The Wall Street Journal
By Dana Suskind
August 11, 2023
Imagine being the parent of an infant or toddler a decade from now. Most aspects of child rearing won’t have changed, but others may well be transformed by the use of artificial intelligence. AI devices are likely to become electronic babysitters, just as previous generations of parents adopted television and video games as tools for lightening their caregiving duties....

11 August, 2023 /

The Boston Globe
By Samantha J. Gross
July 31, 2023
Less than 24 hours after negotiators inked a compromise on a $56.2 billion annual spending plan, House and Senate lawmakers, with little debate, voted Monday to send the fiscal year 2024 package to Governor Maura Healey. The chambers’ action on the budget legislation, representing a record level of spending, came nearly a month after the July 1 deadline for the start of the new fiscal year. The budget is now in Healey’s hands for the...

02 August, 2023 /

CPR News
By Jennifer Brundin
July 29, 2023
With the new school year just a couple of weeks away – and thousands of 4-year-olds taking part in universal preschool – there are still frayed nerves among some school districts and private child care providers. While thousands of families are happy to receive 15 hours a week of free education for their young child, behind the scenes a provider described it as a “debacle.” “There's just a big hesitancy to trust right now because...

29 July, 2023 /

Fox 13 Tampa Bay
By Allie Corie
July 27, 2023
When the bell rings on a new school year in just a few weeks, half the kindergartners in our area won't be ready. That's according to a recent study by United Way Suncoast, which covers Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties. Families not having access to early childhood education has become a childcare crisis. The first few years of a child’s life are crucial to their development. "Ninety percent of the brain...

27 July, 2023 /

HR Brew
By Courtney Vinopal
July 26, 2023
Chobani is the latest company to add childcare to its suite of benefits to better support working parents. The yogurt maker, which has manufacturing facilities in South Edmeston, New York, and Twin Falls, Idaho, announced on June 21 it will partner with WeeCare, a childcare network focused on affordable options. Full-time, regular employees will be eligible to receive up to 10 days of prepaid childcare within the WeeCare network, as well as an annual stipend of...

26 July, 2023 /

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 July, 2023 /

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...

26 July, 2023 /

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...

25 July, 2023 /

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...

20 July, 2023 /

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...

08 July, 2023 /

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....

27 June, 2023 /

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...

23 June, 2023 /

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 June, 2023 /

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...

21 June, 2023 /

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 June, 2023 /

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 June, 2023 /

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...

20 June, 2023 /

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...

08 June, 2023 /

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....

05 June, 2023 /

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, 2023 /

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)...

31 May, 2023 /

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...

27 May, 2023 /

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...

26 May, 2023 /

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...

24 May, 2023 /

Vox
By Rachel M. Cohen
May 22, 2023
Action in Congress to support child care has been stalled for years. But in Vermont, lawmakers have just approved an ambitious plan that would pour tens of millions of new dollars into the state’s starved child care system. The bill authorizing $125 million in annual investment comes after nearly a decade of organizing. As in many states, thousands of Vermont kids lack access to any child care program, and among families that have been able to...

24 May, 2023 /

Cision PR Newswire
News Provided By The Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative
May 1, 2023
BOSTON, May 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education has announced the winners of its 2023 Zaentz Early Education Innovation Challenge. Now in its fourth year, the Challenge recognizes promising new ideas and strategic approaches that have the potential to transform early education. On April 27, 2023, 11 finalists pitched their ideas to a panel of judges and a...

03 May, 2023 /

MIT News
By Peter Dizikesarchive
April 25, 2023
Children who attend preschool at age four are significantly more likely to go to college, according to an empirical study led by MIT economist Parag Pathak. To conduct the study, Pathak and his colleagues followed more than 4,000 students who took part from 1997 to 2003 in a lottery the Boston public school system conducted to allocate a limited number of preschool slots. The lottery created a natural experiment, allowing the researchers to track the educational outcomes...

25 April, 2023 /

Insider
By Juliana Kaplan and Madison Hoff
April 23, 2023
At childcare centers and schools, workers have been quitting for better pay and because of burnout, among other reasons. It's adding to to the childcare industry's ongoing cycle of workers leaving over hard conditions, squeezing centers and parents even more, as the whole operation struggles to stay afloat. Workers are begging for help. "We really need help. We need government to step in," Cynthia Dahl, the head of Lighthouse Montessori School in Seattle, told Insider. "It...

23 April, 2023 /

Chalkbeat Chicago
By Samantha Smylie
March 31, 2023
Chicago’s youngest residents cannot vote for the city’s next mayor, but their parents can. As Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas face off in an April 4 runoff election to become the city’s next mayor, both have promised to support early childhood education and provide families with accessible and affordable options for high-quality child care. Johnson said he would focus on affordable child care and increasing wages for staff, while Vallas’ plan would support children from birth...

31 March, 2023 /

Early Learning Nation
By Bruno J. Navarro
March 29, 2023
The number of investor-backed, for-profit child care chains in the United States has been growing in recent years, creating additional strains on the industry—and families—that go beyond the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new research brief. If it continues unabated, the trend would make it more difficult for families to access affordable child care across the country, writes Elliot Haspel, author of the book “Crawling Behind: America’s Child Care Crisis...

30 March, 2023 /

The Washington Post
By Tara Bahrampour
March 30, 2023
Alicia Morales Escobar had taught infants and toddlers for years before the District passed a law requiring her to earn a college degree to continue doing her job. “I was thinking it would be impossible for me,” said Morales Escobar, 44, who works at Briya Public Charter School in Adams Morgan. With two of her own children to raise, the strain compounded by a pandemic and the death of her brother from a stroke, she...

30 March, 2023 /

The New York Times
By Emma G. Fitzsimmons
March 29, 2023
When Eric Adams ran for mayor, one of his key policy proposals was to create a better website for New Yorkers to access government services. Concluding his 15th month in office, Mr. Adams has introduced the first phase of the website, which is called MyCity, calling the project “my baby” and “my dream.” Initially, it will allow people to apply for child-care assistance. Eventually, it will connect New Yorkers to additional programs. “It’s user-friendly,...

29 March, 2023 /

Chalkbeat Colorado
By Erica Meltzer
March 28, 2023
It will be another month before Colorado families know where they can send their children for preschool under the state’s new universal preschool program. Families were supposed to learn which programs they had matched with on Thursday. But on Tuesday, officials with Colorado’s Department of Early Childhood announced they plan to tell families on April 26. As reported by Chalkbeat, more than 20 education and early childhood groups had asked the state to push back initial...

28 March, 2023 /
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