|
National
Association for the Education of Young Children, February 1, 2005
CONTENTS:
UPCOMING HIGH STAKES IN THE BUDGET
NEW HEAD START NRS TEST PANEL APPOINTED
NEW NGA REPORT; GOVERNORS TALK ABOUT EARLY CHILDHOOD
UPCOMING HIGH STAKES IN THE BUDGET
The President gives his State of the Union Address this week, followed
on Monday, February 7 by the release on his budget request. Although
Congress is not required to adopt his request, it does set the tone for
the budget debates. This year's budget debates are expected to be very
high stakes for child care and other human services programs.
The President has signaled that he wants to reduce the deficit by half.
Given that raising revenue is unlikely to be part of the deficit reduction
strategy, the budget debate will turn to cutting entitlement
and mandatory funding programs and freezing or cutting discretionary
spending. This is done through "reconciliation instructions" in the Budget
Resolution. A reconciliation bill has special rules and cannot be
filibustered. It requires a simple majority vote to pass.
Senator Gregg of New Hampshire, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee,
has said that entitlement spending should be on the table this year. The
Child Care & Development Block Grant and TANF, both
of which are mandatory funding programs that provide states with large
resources for child care assistance and child care quality, could be among
the cuts.
Typically, the budget request is many hundreds of pages long. We will
provide you with the highlights as soon as possible.
NEW HEAD START NRS TEST PANEL APPOINTED
Secretary Tommy Thompson announced the appointment of 10 people to
advise him on the Head Start National Reporting System test. The panel
will assess the progress in developing and implementing the NRS, and find
ways to integrate the NRS into a broader assessment of early childhood
learning in FACES, the National Impact Study, Head Start's Performance
Based Outcome System, and ongoing evaluations of Early Head Start.
The panel appointments are: Susan Landry (chair) at the University of
Texas Health Science Center at Houston; Don Bailey, Director of the Frank
Porter Graham Child Development Institute; Thomas Cook professor of
sociology, psychology and education at Northwestern University; Victoria
Fu, professor of human development at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University; Vera Clellen, professor and coordinator of the bilingual
certificate program in the School of Speech, Language, and Hearing
Sciences at San Diego State University; Ron Haskins, senior fellow at the
Brookings Institution and consultation at Annie E. Casey Foundation;
Christopher Lonigan, associate professor of psychology and director of the
Center for Reading Research at Florida State University; Donald Rock,
senior associate in the research and development at Educational Testing
Service; Prentice Starkey, associate professor at the graduate school of
education at University of California at Berkeley; and Dorothy Strickland,
professor of reading at
Rutgers University's graduate school of education.
GOVERNORS TALK ABOUT EARLY CHILDHOOD
The National Governors' Association just released its report, Building
the Foundation for Bright Futures: Final Report of the NGA Task Force on
School Readiness. The task force report outlines a series of
recommendations to forge a vision, build a coordinated system and ensure
accountability in a collective effort to promote so-called "Ready States,
Ready Schools, Ready Communities, Ready Families and Ready Children." The
full report is available at
http://www.nga.org/cda/files/0501TASKFORCEREADINESS.pdf.
Since the first week of January, 38 governors have given their 2005 State
of the State Addresses. Following is our second compilation of those who
mentioned early care and education and the early grades in their addresses
as of January 27th.
Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski (R) spoke about the need for the
Legislature to approve an additional $126 million over the next two years
in order to create a two year education budget that gives teachers,
administrators, school board members, and parents budget certainty. "Our
children need a strong educational foundation to fully participate in our
state's expanding economic base...We want our children and their children
to live and prosper in Alaska."
Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano (D) proposed funding so that children of
low-wage, working parents can obtain quality childcare without spending
months on a waiting list; having the Arizona School Readiness Board to
continue its work with both the private and non-profit sectors to create a
quality rating system for childcare centers; extending all-day
kindergarten so it is available to every child at every school in every
community; and implementing a statewide Master Teacher program to
ultimately put at least one Master Teacher in every school. "Our first
priority, today and always, is education...But as our state is changing,
our economy is changing, and our schools must change."
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) State of the State Address
proposed that teacher pay be tied to merit, not tenure. "Let me say this
to every California teacher who is opening the minds of our children and
nurturing their lives: I want to reward you for your hard work. I want to
reward you for the sacrifices you make. I want to reward you for the
learning that you instill."
Governor of Delaware Ruth Ann Minner (D) proposed full-day kindergarten
across the state by 2008. "My belief in the potential granted by each
child's education is a result of having to obtain my own the hard
way. An inspiring education system is the most important seed we can sow
for our state's future."
Hawaii's Governor Linda Lingle (R) launched the Early Childhood Education
Initiative in her State of the State Address. This initiative would allow
3,000 additional children, ages 3 and 4, to attend high-quality, fully
accredited preschools. The initiative would give financial assistance for
"gap group" families, monetary incentives to preschools that adopt quality
content standards, incentives for providers who attend training beyond
existing licensing standards, and support for more adults to enter the
early childhood education profession. "State, federal and private funding
for child care and preschool programs in Hawai`i totals nearly $100
million a year, and yet many working families forego quality child care
because they simply can't afford it."
Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne (D) said that his budget projects a $117
million surplus in the current fiscal year and recommended an increase in
general funds for public schools - an allocation of $999 million for K-12.
"Long before a child enters school, the learning process begins. We all
recognize that if we can provide a solid foundation in early childhood
health, education and development, our children will grow up with more
opportunities and chances to succeed."
Governor Mitch Daniels, Jr. (R) of Indiana promised to direct the
Department of Local Government Finance to impose a 120-day moratorium on
any new school bond issue. During the moratorium, which began on January
19th, the agency is mandated to draw up guidelines related to size, cost,
and the ratio of academic to non-academic spending in school construction.
"Education, both K-12 and postsecondary, must play essential roles in
fiscal recovery by managing temporarily with current levels of state
funding, no less but no more."
New Mexico's Governor Bill Richardson (D) set an agenda of taking the
first step in his pre-kindergarten initiative; fully funding full-day
kindergarten; investing in before- and after-school programs; and boosting
professional development for pre-kindergarten teachers. "Our children
deserve the chance for an early start on success. And this is proven
to be the best investment we can make to give them limitless opportunity."
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is
dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with
particular focus on the quality of educational and developmental services
for all children from birth through age 8. Founded in 1926, NAEYC is the
world's largest organization working on behalf of young children with more
than 100,000 members, a national network of nearly 450 local, state, and
regional Affiliates, and a growing global alliance of like-minded
organizations. For more information about the organization, visit its
website at http://www.naeyc.org/. For
more information on the public policy work of the Michigan Association for
the Education of Young Children, contact Steve Manchester at 800-336-6424
or smanchester@miaeyc.org.
|
