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December 19, 2013
NJ Wins Early Learning Grant
New Jersey is one of six states that have won a combined $280 million in grants to improve early learning programs for babies, toddlers and preschoolers, the Obama administration announced today.
New Jersey joins Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Vermont as the winning states in the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge. New Jersey plans to use the grant to improve the quality of child care by launching a pilot child care rating and improvement system in several counties. This system promises to give parents a more consistent way to determine the quality of care a provider offers and give child care providers resources to improve quality.
Learn more about the state’s plan.
ACNJ Releases Child Care Video
In the wake of our successful release of a special Child Care Kids Count, which garnered significant media attention, ACNJ has put out a short video, summarizing the report (with cute shots of kids singing). Please view and share. It is great news that some of the issues raised in the report will begin to be addressed through the challenge grant. Still, more work remains.
View the video.
Budget Deal Reached
Congress passed a federal budget that averts further cuts to early childhood program in 2014 but fails to restore cuts made in 2013, including funds to return 57,000 young children to Head Start, who lost their slots because of the 2013 cuts known as sequestration.
In addition, the budget fails to provide any new dollars for expansion of early childhood programs, including money for the Strong Start for America's Children Act, the ambitious federal early childhood plan that would expand preschool and other critical programs for young children.
The opportunity, however, is not over.
In the next few weeks, Congress must pass bills to fund existing initiatives, including those to expand early learning opportunities. Congress should allocate sufficient funding to help our youngest children in their critical first years. We will keep you informed about how you can join our efforts to ensure that all children get off to the right start.
Read the budget story.
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