News Brief

02/14/13

White House Gives Outline of Early-Childhood Ed. Expansion Plan

Education Week (02/14/13) Klein, Alyson

President Barack Obama called for expanding access to preschool programs to just about every child in the country during his State of the Union address, but he offered almost no details about how Congress would pay for the plan. Additional details were outlined by the administration on Feb. 14, with funding coming mostly from the states via a partnership with the federal government. Through a cost-sharing agreement, federal funds would be extended to reach all low- and moderate-income families with four-year-old students; states would get an incentive for allowing additional middle-class children to join these state preschool programs; to receive the money, programs would have to demonstrate that they are of high quality; and states would be encouraged to provide full-day kindergarten. The $8 billion Head Start program for low-income children also would be changed to serve more children ages birth through three, while four-year-old children would be included in the expanded state preschool programs.

This news brief was summarized for Chiefline, CCSSO's weekly newsletter. Click here to receive Chiefline in your inbox weekly. Newsbrief Copyright 2012 INFORMATION, INC.