Federal Update

Federal funds for high-quality early education are particularly necessary in the current economic climate to ensure momentum for young children is sustained in the states. This critical federal role makes advocacy aimed at our Congressional delegation just as important as advocacy targeting state leaders in Massachusetts. EEA also monitors federal initiatives that relate to our goals for children and families in the commonwealth.

The Obama administration recognized the importance of linking early learning with the K-12 system and broader supports for families with the creation of two critical positions and the appointment of two well-respected experts to fill them. Jacqueline Jones is U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s senior advisor for early learning, and Deputy Assistant Secretary Joan Lombardi is interdepartmental liaison for early childhood development at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Visit our blog, Eye on Early Education, for the latest federal news and information.

Race to the Top—Early Learning Challenge
The Early Learning Challenge is a major federal grant program designed to close the achievement gap for children with high needs and ensure that all children enter kindergarten ready to succeed. Funded by Congress in the fiscal year 2011 budget, the $500 million competition rewards states that create comprehensive plans to transform early learning systems with better coordination, clearer learning standards and meaningful workforce development. The program is jointly administered by the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. In December 2011, the Obama administration announced that nine states, including Massachusetts, were awarded Early Learning Challenge (ELC) grants. Massachusetts, which scored second highest after North Carolina, will receive $50 million over four years, the maximum for which it was eligible. Also winning ELC grants are California ($52,572,935), Delaware ($49,878,774), Maryland ($49,999,143), Minnesota ($44,858,313), North Carolina ($69,991,121), Ohio ($69,993,362), Rhode Island ($50,000,000) and Washington ($60,000,000). Read more about the Early Learning Challenge.

return to top

Federal Budget: Fiscal Year 2011
On February 1, 2010, the Obama Administration released its budget proposal for the coming federal fiscal year, FY11, which began on October 1, 2010. House and Senate appropriations subcommittees released their proposals in July, 2010. As the below chart indicates, the panels proposed increases for several line items that relate to early education and care. Most had received new funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, but the bulk of these temporary stimulus funds are scheduled to expire in 2011. Congress failed to enact a budget by the start of the fiscal year and instead has funded the federal government at FY10 levels through a series of continuing resolutions. The latest continuing resolution came in December 2010, after the Senate failed to take up an omnibus appropriations bill that contained increases for a number of early learning programs. Earlier in the month, the House of Representatives had approved a continuing resolution that included the additional funds for early education and care.

Comparison of FY 2011 Proposed Funding Levels ($ billions):

Source: Early Ed Watch
return to top

Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)
This federal funding stream is the primary means by which states fund access to early education and care programs. With the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, CCDBG received roughly a $1 billion increase for each of the two years covered by ARRA. With stimulus funding scheduled to expire by the end of federal FY10, President Obama, as well as House and Senate appropriations subcommittees proposed large FY11 funding increases for CCDBG that attempt to maintain the funding levels achieved through ARRA. These were contained in the omnibus appropriations bill that died in the Senate in December. For more information, visit Early Ed Watch and CLASP.

return to top

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
ESEA is the primary legislation by which the federal government funds and regulates public education. This law, also known as No Child Left Behind, is overdue for reauthorization. On March 15, 2010, the Obama administration unveiled its blueprint for reauthorizing ESEA, which included proposals addressing teacher quality, standards and assessment, and college and career readiness.

Early education advocates across the country are recommending that ESEA reauthorization include a new focus on early learning. This would provide a unique opportunity to build in federal support for state-funded high-quality early education systems that help prepare young children for success in school, college, and career.

For more information visit Pre-k Now.

return to top

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a $787 billion federal stimulus plan designed to create jobs, increase consumer spending and to address looming state budget deficits. The two-year program is now expiring, leaving gaps in funding that fiscally strapped states and the federal government have struggled to fill.

The final bill provided $5.24 billion in new funding for early education and care, including set asides to improve early education program quality. In addition, states can choose to use K-12 Title I funding and the $53.6 billion in stabilization funds to help support early education programs. There are also a number of competitive grants funded through ARRA that states and local entities can take advantage of, some of which have implications for early education and care. Massachusetts has received about $8.7 billion in ARRA funding, with $1.88 billion allocated for early childhood, elementary, secondary, and higher education.

In addition to the funds listed below that are targeted for programs serving children under age 6, funds from the $53 billion allocated for state stabilization for education and $100 million in teacher quality grants could also be used for early education.

For more information, read EEA's policy brief, “Summary of the Federal Stimulus Bill: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.”

return to top

Race to the Top
On August 24, 2010, Governor Deval Patrick, members of the congressional delegation and state legislative leaders announced that Massachusetts was one of 10 award recipients in the federal Race to the Top competition and will receive $250 million over the next four years to implement landmark reforms in public education. The commonwealth's application received the highest score among the winners, which, in addition to Massachusetts, are Washington, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island.

EEA successfully worked with state policymakers to insure that early education was incorporated into the commonwealth’s application. Included in its plan, Massachusetts:

	Commits the Departments of Early Education and Care and Elementary and Secondary Education to align pre-kindergarten and K-3 standards and develop formative assessments and curriculum-embedded performance tasks.
	Commits to build a longitudinal data system that begins “as soon as a student is touched by the public system.”
	Supports the six regional Readiness Centers’ mission of providing professional development for educators across the continuum, from early childhood to higher education.
	Creates wraparound zones in seven Level 4 districts to coordinate comprehensive social services for children and families.

For more information:
Press release from Mass.gov
EEA Chart: Race to the Top and Reading Proficiency [PDF]
EEA Policy Brief: 'Race to the Top' Finalists Prioritize Early Education [PDF]
US Department of Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

return to top

Striving Readers
In September 2011, the U.S. Department of Education announced that six states—Georgia, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Texas—had been awarded grants of between $7.6 million and $66.5 million in the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Birth-Grade 12 competition. Massachusetts and other unsuccessful applicants are eligible for technical assistance to help implement the literacy plans they developed as part of the competition. Read the U.S. Department of Education’s news release for more information.

return to top