Sign On to Support the Bold Early Learning Initiative
President Obama announced a bold initiative to increase access to high-quality early care and learning for the nation’s youngest learners. Getting Congress to approve this initiative will take a groundswell of support.
Let’s show the President and Congress that New Yorkers support his plan. A letter of support from statewide organizations will be sent to the White House in June, following the June 5th Early Learning Day of Action under the Strong Start for Children Campaign. Can we count on you to add your organization's endorsement to this letter? Email your organization's name to Betty Holcomb at: bholcomb@ccinyc.org to be added to this letter.
A Very Special Delivery
Member organizations of the Strong Start for Children campaign collected over 30,000 notes and pieces of artwork thanking President Obama for his deep commitment to early learning, which were delivered to the White House by a contingent of children. See photos of this special delivery here.
NYS Assembly to Convene Workgroup on Child Care
On May 6th, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced the formation of a working group on child care issues in New York State to better understand the challenges faced by working parents and investigate access to affordable child care. -see press release
OCFS recently held public hearings on the NYS Child Care and Development draft plan for fiscal year 2014-15. See a "quick guide” to the plan, which identifies many of the possible areas for comment. The deadline for written submissions is Friday, May 10 and written comments can be faxed (518-474-9617) or e-mailed to Kimmarie Slade at: Kimmarie.slade@ocfs.state.ny.us
See the full document here.
Latest Press
The Importance of Preschool and Child Care for Working Mothers
Center for American Progress (May 8, 2013) By Sarah Jane Glynn, Jane Farrell, and Nancy Wu - In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama made a historic pledge to provide universal, high-quality pre-K education to our nation’s children. He chose to make this one of his administration’s priorities with good reason: Early childhood education has myriad benefits, including better, more equitable long-term outcomes for children of divergent economic backgrounds. -see story
Letter: N.Y. smart to invest in early education program
timesunion.com (May 6, 2013) LTE - The Times Union's front page story on the National Institute for Early Education Research's annual report shows how so many states have fallen behind in their commitment to early education ("Largest drop ever for pre-K spending," April 29). -see LTE
Largest drop ever for pre-K spending:
States spend less on prekindergarten than they did a decade ago: report
timesunion.com (April 29, 2013) Associated Press - Washington -
State funding for prekindergarten programs had its largest drop ever last year and states are now spending less per child than they did a decade ago, according to a report released Monday. -see story
Arne Duncan: Universal preschool is a sure path to the middle class
Washington Post (April 18, 2013) Opinion by Arne Duncan - President Obama put forward a plan last week to make access to high-quality early learning a reality for every 4-year-old in America by making full-day preschool available to families with incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. -see opinion
New Details on the President’s Pre-K Plan
New America Foundation (April 15, 2013) By Laura Bornfreund - The release of the President’s fiscal year 2014 budget provides a clearer picture of the quality standards states would have to meet to receive funds under the Obama administration’s “Preschool for All” proposal. The most notable benchmarks are pre-K teachers with bachelor's degrees and salaries for pre-K teachers that are comparable to K-12 teachers’ wages. -see story
See more press here
A Win for Families and Young Children
March 21, 2013 Press Release - Winning Beginning NY, a statewide coalition of early care and learning experts, applauds the Governor’s and the Legislature’s decision to include a new $25 million investment in full-day pre-kindergarten funding in the SFY 2013-14 Budget.
-see press release
See Governor Cuomo's press release here
See April 5th coalition letters sent to Governor Cuomo and NYS Education Commissioner John King, in response to the new $25 million funding for Pre-K expansion.
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Resources
Organization sign-on letter in support of the President's early care and learning initiative.
The State of Preschool 2012 is NIEER's 2012 State Preschool Yearbook profiling state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States. April 2013.
See SCAA & CCI's press release on this yearbook.
We Can Do Better: 2013 Update, Child Care Aware® of America’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight, is the fourth in a series of reports beginning in 2007 that scores and ranks the states on 11 program requirements and four oversight benchmarks for child care centers. The report emphasizes that progress has been made but more emphasis needs to be placed on quality through quality rating and improvement systems such as QUALITYstarsNY. See New York's ranking.
From Chapter 53 of the 2013 Laws of New York: New Pre-K Funding in the Budget bill. April 2013.
Coalition Memos in Support of bills introduced in the 2013 Legislative Session. April 2013.
Early Care and Learning in the New York State 2013-14 Final Budget, a comparison of final budget items with WBNY's Legislative Agenda. April 2013.
Child Care in the NYS Budget SFY 2009-2014, an overview of appropriations by the Empire Justice Center. April 2013.
High Quality Early Learning: A Key to Reducing Future Crime in New York, a Fight Crime Invest in Kids New York policy brief. March 2013
WBNY March 12, 2013 Budget Update
WBNY 2013 Legislative Agenda. Winning Beginning NY believes that New York State cannot continue to choose between access and quality. Instead, we must increase access to high-quality early care and learning programs.
The Pre-K Crunch, How New York City Parents Struggle to Find Pre-Kindergarten Slots, a new report from Public Advocate Bill de Blasio showing demand for Pre-K seats far ourstrips supply across the city. March 2013.
Delivering on the Promise of Preschool: Investing in Social and Emotional Development and Early Math Skills, MDRC policy brief. February 2013.
Your Public Schools in fiscal peril, Running out of time and options, a PowerPoint presentation by the Council of School Superintendents. February 2013.
Dr. James Heckman, Nobel Laureate and a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, discusses the economic gains to be realized by investing in early childhood education, on this One on One with Bill Goodman video. January 13, 2013.
Early Care and Education Legislation Database, a searchable database from the National Conference of State Legislatures tracks and updates early care and education legislation from the 2008-2013 legislative sessions for 50 states and the territories.
The Ready for Kindergarten, Ready for College Campaign, a partnership of Winning Beginning NY, the Public Policy and Early Education Fund, the Alliance for Quality Education, and Citizen Action of New York, recommend that New York State create a Ready for Kindergarten Innovation Fund to assure that children enter Kindergarten prepared to succeed. October 2012.
Quality: What it Is and Why it Matters in Early Childhood Education. This Schuyler Center policy brief explains why quality matters, demonstrates what quality looks like, and details how it should be measured. Finally, it posits this recommendation:
New York State should invest in increased access to high-quality early care and education programs. September 2012. |
