I write a lot about funding battles, both federal and state, and hopefully that money eventually goes somewhere and helps someone, though too often we don’t follow the money.  It turns out last year’s economic stimulus package will allow 108 more kids to attend quality early learning this year in Washington State.

Thanks to the law, the federal government is sending $933,171 to this state to allow these kids to enroll in Children’s Home Society of Washington’s Early Head Start programs in King and Walla Walla counties this month. Plus, the money will create 14 new jobs in a region that could use some – the state’s unemployment rate hit 9.5 percent in December.

“The grant will allow CHSW to enhance child development and social competence in children at homes and at childcare centers. Since a strong parent is critical to the success of a young child, the programs also support family development and promote long‐term self‐sufficiency and capability of parents,” Children’s Home Society’s director of Early Learning Cathy Garland said in a statement.

Unfortunately, the new students will not make a big dent in Head Start under enrollment. Only 2.3 percent of Washington’s 69,000 eligible families actually attend Head Start, mirroring the 2 percent national enrollment rate, according to CHSW.

President Barack “Obama hopes to serve five times the amount of families,” the Home Society added.

Hey, 108 new students is a start.
                               
News & Notes: Check out EarlyStories two great posts:

• “New tool asks: Are kids ready for kindergarten?”
• “Are gifted children born, made or purchased?”

Washington State News

• Column: To Be Equal – High Quality Childhood Education A Step Closer for All – 9/30/09, The Seattle Medium
• Stimulus, grants fund early-childhood ed district-wide – 9/30/ The Tacoma Weekly

National News

• Op-Ed: Early education vital to health of armed forces – 10/1/09, Morning Sentinel (ME)
• Can Better Child Care Shrink Some Achievement Gaps? – 9/30/09, Education Week Blog: Politics K-12
• Race to the Top Grants: Not Just a K-12 Thing? – 9/29/09, Education Week Blog: Politics K-12
• Parents puzzled why developmental screening for pre-K now being enforced – 9/29/09, New York Daily News
• From Birth, Engage Your Child With Talk – 9/28/09, The New York Times
• Parent to Parent: Finding a play-based pre-K – 9/28/09, The Buffalo News (NY)
• Op-Ed: Ready to learn? – 9/27/09, The State (SC)
• Op-Ed: Kindergarten gives children the best possible start – 9/27/09, The Eagle-Tribune (MA)
• Can the Right Kinds of Play Teach Self Control? – 9/25/09, New York Times Magazine
• Learning language early – 9/18/09, The Standard Times (MA)
   

Policy

• Texas Children Lose Out on High-Quality Child Care Because of Limited Funding – 10/1/09, National Women's Law Center 
• The New Pre-Schoolers: Tested, and Ready for Business? – 9/30/09, Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media Blog: Early Stories
• From the Big Easy, where pre-k is anything but – 9/25/09, Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media Blog: Early Stories

News

• Audit Finds State Using Stimulus to Stay Afloat: Hoped-for education boost takes back seat as states use stimulus to stay afloat – 7/7/00, ABC (Associated Press story)
• Weekly camp tries to stay ahead of migrant worker’s kids’ needs – 6/30/09, Wenatchee World
• COAG signs off on childhood strategy – 7/2/09, The Age (Australia)
• Child Care Advocates Expand Outreach with Launch of ECEC Radio – 7/2/09, PR Web

Analysis

• 2+2=? – 7/7/09, The Early Ed Watch Blog
• Plunging revenue causes new problems – 7/9/09, Stateline.org
• A tale of two preschool programs – 7/1/09, Medill Reports

Opinion

• Editorial: Legislature still has plenty of work on education reform – 7/7/09, Yakima Herald-Republic
• Letter to the Editor: Early learning cuts dropouts and crime – 6/28/09, The Kitsap Sun
• Letter to the Editor: Education – Send kids to school ready to learn – 6/27/09, The News Tribune (Tacoma)
• Letter to the Editor: Education deters crime, 6/30/09, Tri-City Herald

(Thanks to Pre-K Now, The Early Ed Watch Blog and The Children’s Alliance for helping find these stories.)

Efforts to expand pre-kindergarten are grabbing headlines and money these days, particularly now that President Barack Obama gave initiatives a boost in his economic stimulus package.

I thought it would be a good time to collect fresh thoughts on what is and isn’t quality pre-k. Currently, the New America Foundation is taking a lead by hosting a forum  last week. You can check out a video as well.

• New America’s bloggers have also been busy writing about the issue: Putting the “Quality” in Quality Pre-K.
  
  • New Findings Link the 'Fade-Out' Phenomenon to High-Poverty Schools.
    
• EarlyStories posted a thoughtful commentary yesterday: Questions and Concerns about Pre-K Expansions.
  
• EarlyStories also linked to Eduflak’s “A New Era for Pre-K.”
  
• In Portland, the Oregonian had  “Group funds idea: Start kids off with better teachers.”

What else is out there and how are experts, teachers and advocates talking about creating quality pre-k programs?

The economic stimulus package offers money to enroll more kids in preschool, which is a good thing since less than 16 percent of those eligible actually attend top early learning programs – the Center on Law and Social Policy reports today.

Across the country, 42 percent of all homeless children are under the age of 6, yet not even a fifth attend quality education programs, according to the center.

In yet another nod to early learning, the Obama administration and lawmakers tucked $70 million into their massive stimulus package designed to help get the U.S. economy moving again. It is not all for early education – the funds are under the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth initiative – and it’s not a lot when compared to the effort’s overall $787 billion price tag, but it could help.

The McKinney-Vento Act requires states and local educational agencies (LEAs) to ensure equal access for homeless children to public education, including public preschool education, and provides funds for activities to carry out that mission. – CLASP, 4/14/09.

There appears to be support in Washington state for this type of spending, since more than 70 percent of surveyed voters support providing preschool for kids living in poverty, No Kidding! Children's Alliance Blog reported, citing a Stand for Children in Washington survey.

A central purpose of public education is to ensure that all children—no matter their families’ economic status—have an equal opportunity to succeed in school and life. This starts with making sure that all students enter kindergarten ready to succeed. Today, too many students start kindergarten behind their peers, and many are never able to catch up. It's basic. Poverty shouldn’t keep a kindergartner from success, Children’s Alliance blog, 4/14/09.