As part of the White House Jobs and Opportunity Tour, President Obama visited a Baltimore-based Judith P. Hoyer Early Child Care and Family Education Center (“Judy Center”) this morning, highlighting an important early childhood program as he aims to increase public investments in early learning education and development services.

Looking for an easy way to brighten up your Monday morning? Add this to your to-do list, then promptly check it right off: speak up for early learning.

It’s finally here: budget day. Almost two months after the president’s State of the Union speech called for a significant investment in early learning, additional details about the administration’s approach and the magnitude of their funding request are emerging.

The First Five Years Fund applauds President Obama’s ‘Preschool for All’ initiative as outlined in his FY2014 budget.

April showers bring May flowers, and this year, they also herald the much-anticipated release of President Obama’s 2014 budget proposal. With the date set for Wednesday, April 10, reports about what we can expect to see for early learning are beginning to trickle out of Washington like so many drops of spring rain.

Kris Perry, executive director of the First Five Years Fund, released the following statement on the president’s plan to use a tobacco tax to fund his early childhood education proposal.

Thank you all for your swift and vocal outreach in support of Senator Harkin’s amendment to the Continuing Resolution that would have increased funding for Head Start and child care. 

With the Senate set to take up their version of the FY2013 spending bill this week, there is a small window of opportunity to encourage them to increase funding for early learning programs.

While the sequestration horizon looks gloomy, a ray of sunshine.

Put away your presidential early learning initiative celebration swag: sequestration is coming to crash the party.