Once again Thursday has arrived, and we haven’t covered all of the week’s big developments in early learning. Let’s get to it:

A Proposed Raise for Head Start: In Congress, the leader of a key House panel proposed increasing Head Start funding by $540 million in the next fiscal year.
The chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies released his draft spending bill and it would bump up Head Start’s budget from $7.6 billion in fiscal 2011 to $8.1 billion in fiscal 2012. Of course, the measure needs to go through the legislative process and may well end up in a broader omnibus spending bill. Still, the support is good news for Head Start (Thanks @dodsonadvocate for the Twitter heads up about this news.)

Legislative Update: Continuing on this hopeful theme, Early Ed Watch gives a rundown of top early education bills in Congress, including the Foundations for Success Act of 2011 and Ready Schools Act of 2011. Check it out. 

ECEAP in Trouble? The Washington state Legislature is heading back to work on Nov. 28 to work on closing a $1.4 billion budget deficit, and advocates are worried the state-supported preschool program could be cut back.

During the special session lawmakers will be expected to figure out which programs will be cut or even eliminated and whether they intend to send a revenue package to the voters for their consideration. We can’t be sure how this will play out but we know that lawmakers are already having conversations about which programs should be saved, trimmed, or even eliminated. -- “Advocacy Alert! Special Session Could Mean Cuts to ECEAP.” Washington State Association of ECEAP & Head Start.

The group is calling for supporters to contact lawmakers about the importance of the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) before they start cutting state spending. (Check out the website for details.)

NBC News' Education Nation: Of course, don’t forget to review all the great presentations, panels, videos and analysis over at NBC News' Education Nation. The annual summit was held this week and for the first time it included a focus on early learning. NBC officials said they learned a lot about early learning this year and have vowed to elevate the conversation around the first five years in future summits.

• Dr. Patricia Kuhl and Dr. Andrew Meltzoff, co-directors of the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, help kick off the summit and the conversation on early learning with some never-before-seen images of the deveoping brain during “Brain Power: Why Early Learning Matters.” A representative from Thrive by Five Washington who attended the summit said it was amazing how many people in the room said that this was the first time they realized how important early learning is to school and life success. Make sure to share this link with everyone you know!
• After the presentations by Kuhl, Meltzoff, Alison Gopnik of UC Berkeley and Jack Shonkoff of Harvard, a panel then discussed the importance of early learning.