First Five Years Fund executive director Kris Perry and other education experts shared what they expect to see in President Obama's State of the Union Address with the Huffington Post's Joy Resmovits. Read the full article here. 

Many of us are getting back to the daily grind and setting goals for the new year. Congress is getting back to work, too, and since the First Five Years Fund is in a resolution-making frame of mind, we’ve got a few suggestions.

Hot off the press: Congressman Rehberg, the chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee that funds early learning programs, released his FY13 bill on Tuesday, July 17, in advance of the subcommittee meeting Wednesday morning. 

Earlier today, the Senate appropriations subcommittee tasked with setting funding levels for early learning programs approved its FY13 spending bill. As we’ve mentioned before, this is just the first step in a long process that will likely extend beyond the November elections and into next winter’s lame duck session, with many potential hurdles and tough negotiations likely to unfold between today’s mark-up and a final bill.   

Fans of state-based early learning system building have something to cheer about today: the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will invite five high-scoring states to apply for a second round of Early Learning Challenge funding this year.

Earlier today, FFYF participated in a public forum hosted by the U.S. Department of Education about the structure of the Early Learning Challenge in FY12. FFYF firmly believes that the Early Learning Challenge must remain a competition for states, and Director of Policy and Government Relations Shiek Pal was on hand to deliver the following remarks reiterating our position. We look forward to keeping you updated on new ELC developments as they unfold. 

Earlier today, FFYF participated in a public forum hosted by the U.S. Department of Education about the structure of the Early Learning Challenge in FY12. FFYF firmly believes that the Early Learning Challenge must remain a competition for states, and Director of Policy and Government Relations Shiek Pal was on hand to deliver the following remarks reiterating our position. We look forward to keeping you updated on new ELC developments as they unfold.