One of the biggest topics in early education right now is what making early learning a priority in the new $700 million Race to the Top competition means for child care, preschool and pre-kindergarten in this country.

While I don’t know, folks on the ground in Washington, D.C., are tracking developments as the competition, one of the true winners in the recent battle to fund federal programs for the rest of the fiscal year, comes into focus. I can think of few national early education stories that deserve more attention in the next few months – unless efforts to revamp No Child Left Behind finally take off.

Early Ed Watch has produced some of the best reporting about the next generation Race to the Top, led by this forum, which explores what is and isn’t known.

Over the past week, there has been much uncertainty among early learning stakeholders and advocates about how the Department of Education will execute the language in the new budget bill. Beyond including early learning as a priority for Race to the Top, the language is pretty vague. The bill does not designate a specific amount of money for early learning nor does it specifically state that there should or should not be separate state competition for early learning. – “Race to the Top & Early Learning.” 4/28/11.

The analysis goes on to ask a series of questions, including whether the vague wording could encourage efforts to better integrate early learning and the first elementary grades, often known as PreK-3rd.

A quick reading of the tea leaves suggests this could be a place Race to the Top heads. The PreK-3rd movement is gaining momentum, particularly in Washington state, where it has traction in the Seattle School District, with Gov. Christine Gregoire and in the state legislature. It would also dovetail with efforts to add early education to any reform of No Child Left Behind this year or next. (I am working on a separate project about PreK-3rd in Seattle.)

The Obama administration has given a few hints of its support, such as defining early learning as birth through third grade in another Education Department competition, i3, Early Ed Watch’s Laura Bornfreund tells me.

Head over to the Early Ed Forum to read the complete analysis and discuss.