THE
WHITE HOUSE
Office
of the Press Secretary
February 13, 2013
President
Obama’s Plan for Early Education for all Americans
“In
states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children…studies show
students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high
school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own. We know this
works. So let’s do what works and make sure none of our children start
the race of life already behind.”
President Barack Obama
State of the Union, February 12, 2013
The beginning years of a child’s life are critical for building
the early foundation needed for success later in school and in life.
Leading economists agree that high-quality early learning programs can help
level the playing field for children from lower-income families on vocabulary,
social and emotional development, while helping students to stay on track and
stay engaged in the early elementary grades. Children who attend these
programs are more likely to do well in school, find good jobs, and succeed in
their careers than those who don’t. And research has shown that taxpayers
receive a high average return on investments in high-quality early childhood
education, with savings in areas like improved educational outcomes, increased
labor productivity, and a reduction in crime.
In his State of the Union address,
President Obama called on Congress to expand access to high-quality preschool
to every child in America. As part of that effort, the President will
propose a series of new investments that will establish a continuum of
high-quality early learning for a child – beginning at birth and continuing to
age 5. By doing so, the President would invest critical resources where
we know the return on our dollar is the highest: in our youngest children.
· Providing
High-Quality Preschool for Every Child: The
President is proposing a new federal-state partnership to provide all low- and
moderate-income four-year old children with high-quality preschool, while also
expanding these programs to reach additional children from middle class
families and incentivizing full-day kindergarten policies. This investment –
financed through a cost-sharing model with states – will help close America’s
school readiness gap and ensure that children have the chance to enter
kindergarten ready for success.
· Growing
the Supply of Effective Early Learning Opportunities for Young Children: To
expand high-quality early learning opportunities in the years before preschool,
the President will call for a significant investment in a new Early Head
Start-Child Care partnership. Competitive grants will support communities
that expand the availability of Early Head Start and child care providers that
can meet the highest standards of quality for infants and toddlers, serving
children from birth through age 3.
· Extending
and Expanding Evidence-Based, Voluntary Home Visiting: Voluntary
home visiting programs enable nurses, social workers, and other professionals
to connect families to services and educational support that will improve a
child’s health, development, and ability to learn. President Obama
has already committed $1.5 billion to expand home visitation to hundreds
of thousands of America’s most vulnerable children and families across all 50
states. The President will pursue substantial investments to expand
these important programs to reach additional families in need.
The
President’s Commitment to Early Education
A zip code should never predetermine the quality of any child’s
educational opportunities. Yet studies show that children from low-income
families are less likely to have access to high-quality early education, and
less likely to enter school prepared for success. By third grade,
children from low-income families who are not reading at grade level are six
times less likely to graduate from high school than students who are
proficient. Often, the high costs of private preschool and lack of
public programs also narrow options for middle-class families.
High-quality early childhood education provides the foundation for
all children’s success in school and helps to reduce achievement
gaps. Despite the individual and economic benefits of early
education, our nation has lagged in its commitment to ensuring the provision of
high quality public preschool in our children’s earliest years. The
Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that the
United States ranks 28th out of 38 countries for the share of
four-year olds enrolled in early childhood education. And fewer than 3 in
10 four-year olds are enrolled in high-quality programs.
Preschool for All
· The
President’s proposal will improve quality and expand access to preschool, through
a cost sharing partnership with all 50 states, to extend federal funds to
expand high-quality public preschool to reach all low- and moderate-income
four-year olds from families at or below 200% of poverty. The U.S.
Department of Education will allocate dollars to states based their share of
four-year olds from low- and moderate-income families and funds would be
distributed to local school districts and other partner providers to implement
the program. The proposal would include an incentive for states to
broaden participation in their public preschool program for additional
middle-class families, which states may choose to reach and serve in a variety
of ways, such as a sliding-scale arrangement.
· Funds
will support states as they ensure that children are enrolled in high-quality
programs. In order to access federal funding, states
would be required to meet quality benchmarks that are linked to better outcomes
for children, which include:
o State-level
standards for early learning;
o Qualified
teachers for all preschool classrooms; and
o A plan
to implement comprehensive data and assessment systems.
Preschool
programs across the states would meet common and consistent standards for
quality across all programs, including:
o Well-trained teachers,
who are paid comparably to K-12 staff;
o Small
class sizes and low adult to child ratios;
o A
rigorous curriculum;
o Comprehensive
health and related services; and
o Effective
evaluation and review of programs.
· The
proposal also encourages states to expand the availability of full-day
kindergarten. Only 6 out of 10 of America’s kindergarten students have
access to a full day of learning. In order to ensure that our
kindergartners spend the time they need in school to reach rigorous benchmarks
and standards, funds under this program may also be used to expand full-day
kindergarten once states have provided preschool education to low- and
moderate-income four year-olds.
· Under
the President’s proposal, investment in the federal Head Start program will
continue to grow. The President’s plan will maintain and build on current
Head Start investments, to support a greater share of infants, toddlers, and
three-year olds in America’s Head Start centers, while state preschool settings
will serve a greater share of four-year olds.
Quality Early Learning for Our
Youngest Children
· The
President will also launch a new Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership
program, to support states and communities that expand the availability of
Early Head Start and child care providers that can meet the highest standards
of quality for infants and toddlers, serving children from birth through age
3. Funds will be awarded through Early Head Start on a competitive basis
to enhance and support early learning settings; provide new, full-day,
comprehensive services that meet the needs of working families; and prepare
children for the transition into preschool. This strategy – combined with
an expansion of publicly funded preschool education for four-year olds – will
ensure a cohesive and well-aligned system of early learning for children from
birth to age five.
· The
President is proposing to expand the Administration’s evidence-based home
visiting initiative, through which states are implementing
voluntary programs that provide nurses, social workers, and other professionals
to meet with at-risk families in their homes and connect them to assistance
that impacts a child’s health, development, and ability to learn. These
programs have been critical in improving maternal and child health outcomes in
the early years, leaving long-lasting, positive impacts on parenting skills;
children’s cognitive, language, and social-emotional development; and school
readiness. This will help ensure that our most vulnerable Americans are on
track from birth, and that later educational investments rest upon a strong
foundation.
Building
on Success
President Obama has committed to a comprehensive early learning
agenda for America’s children that begins at birth and provides the support and
services needed to set them on a path of success in school and in life:
· Race to
the Top – Early Learning Challenge: The Early Learning Challenge
has rewarded 14 states that have agreed to raise the bar on the quality of
their early childhood education programs, establish higher standards across
programs and provide critical links with health, nutrition, mental health, and
family support for our neediest children.
· Head
Start and Early Head Start: President Obama has made historic
investments in the Head Start and Early Head Start programs to reach an
additional 61,000 children. Under the President’s leadership, enrollment
in Early Head Start in particular has nearly doubled. The Obama
Administration has also implemented needed reform in the Head Start program by
identifying lower-performing grantees and ensuring that those failing to meet
new, rigorous benchmarks face new competition for continued federal
funding.
· Supporting
our Federal Child Care System: The President has proposed
new investments to expand access and quality in the Child Care and Development
Block Grant.
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