Early Education Clips for Week of January 26-30
Here’s a sampling of early childhood education in the news this week:
TOP STORY
Republican Leaders Signal Willingness to Work With President on Child Care Tax Credit In a joint interview with 60 Minutes, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that enhancing the child care tax credit is an area of potential cooperation with the Obama Administration in this session of Congress. Last week, the President unveiled a comprehensive proposal to expand access to child care, including tripling the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit from $1,000 to $3,000 per child.
Read More:
The Republican Leaders: Boehner and McConnell – 60 Minutes
On 60 Minutes, Republicans Admit Obama Has One Good Idea: Child Care – Forbes
OTHER NATIONAL NEWS
Head Start: A Model For Success The comprehensive whole-child, whole-family model used by Head Start has demonstrated long-term success in improving the academic achievement, health, and stability of children and parents alike, says Head Start Executive Director Yasmina Vinci in an op-ed looking back on 50 years of the program. Read More at The Hill.
Texting Parents May Improve Literacy for Low Income Children Preschool children whose parents received weekly tips on literacy texted to their phones scored higher on reading readiness than children from families that did not receive the texts, according to a new report from the Stanford Center for Policy Analysis. Children whose parents received the texts gained the equivalent of 2 to 3 months of classroom time. Read More at PBS NewsHour.
Working Mothers Embrace President’s Child Care Call to Action With more middle-class and working-class families struggling with child care costs, working women are enthusiastic about President Obama’s State of the Union call to make affordable child care a national economic priority. Read More at the Washington Post.
FROM THE STATES
FLORIDA: Governor Scott’s Budget Plan Increases Funds for Pre-Kindergarten Republican Governor Rick Scott unveiled his 2015 budget this week, which includes a $33.5 million increase for early childhood education. Read More.
MONTANA: Governor Calls on Montana Legislature to Pass Preschool Plan In his State of the State address, Democratic Governor Steve Bullock urged the Republican-controlled legislature to approve his $37 million proposal to create Montana’s first state-funded preschool program. Read More.
IDAHO: Boise Developing Plan to Offer Preschool The City of Boise has teamed up with the Boise School District to advance a proposal to offer pre-K to low income children. City Council Members were given approval to explore public-private funding options for the proposed program and will return to the full City Council in April with an update and formal budget request. Read More.
KENTUCKY: Half of Kentucky School Children Start Kindergarten Prepared, Governor Stresses Importance of Quality Early Childhood Education Fifty percent of children who started kindergarten in Kentucky this year were prepared and ready to learn, up from 49 percent last year. “While we are moving in the right direction, this data reinforces the importance of quality early learning opportunities for all children,” said Governor Steve Beshear. Read More.
TEXAS: Bipartisan Bill Introduced to Expand State’s Full-Day Pre-K Texas Representatives Eric Johnson (D-Dallas) and Marsha Farney (R-Georgetown) introduced legislation to enhance and expand high-quality pre-k in the state. The lawmakers based the bill on Governor Greg Abbott’s early childhood education initiative. Read More.