Child Care and Early Education Legislative Network E-Update

March, 2007

Recent Events

Building the Economic Case for Investments in Preschool
Education Finance Summit

Legislation Highlights

State Activity
2007 Proposed Legislation Highlights
2006 Legislation Highlights and Summaries

Recent Reports

The underlined text includes links to external documents and web pages. Please contact Caroline Smith if you have problems accessing this information.

Recent Events

Early Childhood and the Economic and Business Community

Increasing numbers of business leaders are engaged in early childhood education issues and focused on how investments in children can improve the U.S. workforce and the economy in the long run. On March 7, the Committee for Economic Development (CED), along with The Partnership for America's Economic Success and The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. hosted a forum for business leaders, policymakers and members of the non-profit community called Building the Economic Case for Investments in Children. We encourage you to visit the CED's website (click on the link) to view presentations and access additional information about the forum. Over 200 attendees convened to discuss how investments in children can improve America’s workforce and future economic well-being.

Roundtable on Pre-K Well Received During 2007 NCSL Education Finance Summit

This year's Education Finance Summit, Preparing Students for a Global Economy, was held on February 16-18, 2007, in Denver, Colorado. At least 30 participants attended the roundtable discussion Finding Funds for Young Learners: Financing State Pre-kindergarten Programs. The goal of the roundtable was to bring together state legislators, legislative staff, education leaders and researchers to share ideas and experiences on state pre-K funding policy. Colorado state Senator Suzanne Williams presented on Colorado's recent funding and policy approaches to pre-K and early learning. She also facilitated a discussion with roundtable participants regarding other states' preschool finance approaches. Child Care and Early Education project staff Julie Poppe gave a brief national overview of pre-K funding, including recent state legislative approaches, and 2007 pending legislation, and governor proposals. Contact Julie Poppe for more information.

Technical Assistance

Hawaii Early Learning Educational Task Force

Hawaii lawmakers continue to be engaged in early education. Recently, a legislatively-created task force released the first report about its process to design a four-year-old prekindergarten program and a broader system of early childhood. As lawmakers there consider next steps, they invited NCSL to help facilitate discussions with legislators, agencies, and the non-profit community. As part of its technical assistance, NCSL provided examples of legislation from other states and used state experiences to illustrate options for how to address key issues of eligibility, program design, workforce, and financing. Discussions also included considerations in the design of the broader early childhood system.

Legislation Highlights

Examples of Proposed and Enacted 2007 Legislation

Arkansas chaptered SB261, Act 229, which includes $111 million for the Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) Program, the state's pre-kindergarten program for children whose families earn less than 200% of the federal poverty level. This represents a funding increase of $40 million over the previous year, and fully finances the program to serve all of the targeted children.

Missouri's Senate passed SB161, which would create a 5-star quality rating system. The state would model the system on the existing Missouri quality rating system pilots developed by the University of Missouri Center for Family Policy and Research. The bill is currently being considered by the House of Representatives.

Wyoming enacted HB95, Chapter 156, which promotes quality child care and parent education. The legislation provides grants for professional educational development to assist the owners or staff of child care facilities to attain certificates or degrees in early childhood or a related field. It also includes a parent education component to inform parents about how to choose a high-quality child care facility.

Proposed Legislation Highlights, 1/01/07 - 2/28/07

This document offers an overview and examples of proposed legislation across the country at the start of 2007 legislative sessions. During the first two months, at least 40 legislatures proposed bills on early childhood care and education topics such as preschool, quality rating systems, professional development, home visiting, collective bargaining, tax credits, and kindergarten.

Legislation Highlights 2006

In 2006 at least 36 states enacted substantive child care and early education legislation. Topics included preschool and school readiness, child development, quality initiatives and child care.

Legislation Summaries 2006

This document summarizes child care and early education legislation that was enacted in 2006. It includes 97 bills that are listed by state.

Reports

Para Nuestros Niños: Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics

The National Task Force on Early Childhood Education released a new report that highlights existing infant/toddler, pre-K, and K-3 strategies and recommends improving access to early education programs, increasing the number of Spanish speaking teachers and language acquisition specialists, and designing and testing strategies for early language development and literacy for Hispanic children. The National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics was established in 2004 for the purpose of identifying major educational challenges facing Hispanic children between the ages of birth through age eight and to make recommendations for action. (You may also view the executive summary)

State of Preschool Yearbook 2006

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) released its 2006 State of Preschool Yearbook, which compiles data on all state pre-k programs. The report rates states based on 10 benchmarks to evaluate quality, access, and funding. In 2006, Alabama and North Carolina met all 10 of NIEER's quality benchmarks and six other states met nine of the 10. The yearbook also found that state pre-K served 942,766 children in 2006 with 28 states increasing enrollments over the previous year. Nine states served fewer children and one served the same number.

Promoting Effective Early Learning: What Every Policymaker and Educator Should Know

What will it take to ensure that young low-income children succeed in the early school years? The National Center for Children in Poverty's newest brief will help policymakers and educators understand two important elements: use of an intentional curriculum and professional development and teacher supports. To request paper copies of the report, contact Telly Valdellon, and for questions about the materials, contact Lisa Klein.

Closer to Home: State Strategies to Strengthen and Support Family Friend and Neighbor Care

The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) released a new report which examines the policy decisions states can make to support family, friend, and neighbor care. It describes how these policy decisions affect families and care providers, as well as highlights promising practices across the country. While many state policies focus on the child care subsidy system, the report also explores other policy options that can support family, friend, and neighbor care providers.

Quality of Childcare Affects Language Development

The Frank Porter Graham Institute at the University of North Carolina studied children in different types of child care. The findings revealed that children in higher quality child care acquired key markers of language development at a more rapid rate than children in lower quality care.

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This e-update is made possible by the generous support of The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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