Rep. Mazie Hirono (HI-02), Vice-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, was honored last year with the first Pre-K Champion Award ever given to a person in recognition of her efforts to establish federal incentive grants to states to improve their pre-k programs.
And this year, she's continuing to lead the effort to support early childhood education, in recognition of its great promise to provide significant economic and social benefits over the long run.
Mazie and friends.
Please follow me below for the details and for an opportunity to help the cause.
Two of the nation's leading advocates for early childhood education.
On Tuesday, Congresswoman Hirono blogged at the website of the House Committee on Education and Labor about the importance of early childhood education:
In today’s Education and Labor Committee hearing, we heard from experts in early education and child care from across the country. The panel testified to the importance of investing in high quality early education and child care opportunities for children from birth to five. We also saw that the entire panel agreed that the debate about the importance of quality early childhood education is over; study after study has shown that high quality early education does make a positive difference in a child’s life. Children who attend good preschools are more likely to perform well in school and graduate from high school, and are less likely to commit a crime or use drugs. With that important debate settled, we need to work with states to encourage investments in quality early education opportunities.
The states represented in today’s hearing – Nebraska, Georgia, Illinois, New York, and Kansas – have demonstrated that state and local commitments to investing in early education and child care can be successful. As Jessie Rasmussen, vice president of the Buffett Early Childhood Fund in Nebraska, explained, "common quality standards, clear pathways to meeting research-based standards of quality, sufficient funding for not only reaching these standards but for sustaining quality operations, and flexibility in meeting family needs have been essential elements in our efforts to build a comprehensive, highly effective, birth to five early childhood system." Those same sentiments were echoed by other panelists who also pointed to research-based policy making and statewide collaboration as critical components of successful early education initiatives.
Other common themes we heard in today’s hearing had to do with ensuring access to high quality child care and early education opportunities, supporting families in their role as children’s first and most important teachers, and the need for improved data collection and analysis so we can learn from and improve on what we know works. We also heard that federal early education policy should foster collaboration at the state level and allow flexibility for states, as some states are further along the spectrum of access and quality, and every state has its own strengths and cultural needs.
Many states – including my home state of Hawaii – have a lot of work ahead of us before our children will have access to high quality child care and preschools. From what we’ve heard from our panel today, investments in early education are especially important now during this economic downturn. As more parents lose their jobs and more homes are lost through foreclosures, we must continue to support families in providing affordable, safe, consistent learning environments for their children.
The next step is enactment of Congresswoman Hirono's PRE-K Act (H.R. 702). Here's what the legislation does:
* Awards funding to states, on a competitive basis, to support the quality of state pre-k programs
This means funding to:
o reduce student-teacher ratios;
o recruit and retain qualified teachers with bachelor's degrees in early childhood education;
o address the cultural and linguistic needs of English Language Learners;
o provide full-day vs. half-day programs, and
o other activities that support program quality.
* Allows funding to be used to expand enrollment only after states have met high quality standards
This is to prevent money from going to expanding mediocre or poor quality programs and to create an incentive for states to boost quality with their own money.
* Gives states an incentive to invest in the quality of their pre-k programs
The bill requires states receiving grants to match federal dollars with state dollars and prevents states from using federal dollars to supplant state dollars spent on pre-k.
* Encourages states to continue providing pre-k in a variety of high-quality settings
The bill allows funding to flow to whatever type of licensed pre-k
provider the state recognizes, including school districts, Head Start providers, and community-based settings such as child care centers.
The PRE-K Act has received letters of support from:
* American Association of School Administrators
* Committee for Economic Development
* Fight Crime: Invest In Kids
* Good Beginnings Alliance
* Hawaii Business Roundtable
* Hawaii State Teachers Association
* Legal Momentum: Advancing Women’s Rights Read
* National Education Association
* National School Boards Association
* Parents as Teachers
* Pre-K Now
Supporting early childhood education makes sense to everyone - except the right wing, which has targeted the PRE-K Act for defeat because helping kids is . . . well, I'll let them explain:
This bill opens up the door for politically correct curricula.
* In Section 5, H.R. 702 declares that early education is not intended for the year before kindergarten, but from birth up to kindergarten entry. The bill’s target on the "social," "emotional," and "physical development" of the child (established under sections 2 and 4) leaves the educational system wide open for politicization and abuse as these vague criteria are implemented.
* H.R. 702 requires "mental health screenings" and "culturally appropriate" material. These subjective mandates would be left open for interpretation by the federal government. Furthermore, a blank check is given for any state to seize the program and run with it, tailoring the program toward its own politically correct curriculum."
So, what's needed is momentum to overcome the right wing's opposition (which shouldn't matter much considering the Democratic majority in Congress, but of course it still does). The bill has 71 co-sponsors so far:
Rep Abercrombie, Neil [HI-1] - 1/27/2009
Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5] - 1/27/2009
Rep Altmire, Jason [PA-4] - 1/28/2009
Rep Andrews, Robert E. [NJ-1] - 1/27/2009
Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] - 1/28/2009
Rep Berman, Howard L. [CA-28] - 1/27/2009
Rep Berry, Marion [AR-1] - 1/28/2009
Rep Bishop, Timothy H. [NY-1] - 1/27/2009
Rep Bordallo, Madeleine Z. [GU] - 1/27/2009
Rep Brady, Robert A. [PA-1] - 1/27/2009
Rep Brown, Corrine [FL-3] - 1/27/2009
Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23] - 2/3/2009
Rep Carnahan, Russ [MO-3] - 2/3/2009
Rep Carney, Christopher P. [PA-10] - 2/10/2009
Rep Castle, Michael N. [DE] - 1/27/2009
Rep Castor, Kathy [FL-11] - 1/27/2009
Rep Cleaver, Emanuel [MO-5] - 1/27/2009
Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] - 2/12/2009
Rep Connolly, Gerald E. "Gerry" [VA-11] - 1/27/2009
Rep Conyers, John, Jr. [MI-14] - 1/27/2009
Rep Costello, Jerry F. [IL-12] - 2/3/2009
Rep Crowley, Joseph [NY-7] - 1/27/2009
Rep Davis, Susan A. [CA-53] - 1/27/2009
Rep Edwards, Donna F. [MD-4] - 1/27/2009
Rep Ehlers, Vernon J. [MI-3] - 2/3/2009
Rep Farr, Sam [CA-17] - 1/27/2009
Rep Fattah, Chaka [PA-2] - 1/27/2009
Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51] - 1/27/2009
Rep Green, Al [TX-9] - 1/27/2009
Rep Green, Gene [TX-29] - 2/13/2009
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 1/27/2009
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. [IL-4] - 1/27/2009
Rep Hare, Phil [IL-17] - 1/27/2009
Rep Hastings, Alcee L. [FL-23] - 1/27/2009
Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22] - 1/27/2009
Rep Hinojosa, Ruben [TX-15] - 1/27/2009
Rep Holt, Rush D. [NJ-12] - 1/27/2009
Rep Honda, Michael M. [CA-15] - 1/27/2009
Rep Kennedy, Patrick J. [RI-1] - 1/27/2009
Rep Kilpatrick, Carolyn C. [MI-13] - 1/27/2009
Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] - 1/27/2009
Rep Loebsack, David [IA-2] - 1/27/2009
Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] - 1/27/2009
Rep McCollum, Betty [MN-4] - 1/27/2009
Rep McDermott, Jim [WA-7] - 2/10/2009
Rep McNerney, Jerry [CA-11] - 1/27/2009
Rep Meeks, Gregory W. [NY-6] - 2/10/2009
Rep Miller, George [CA-7] - 1/27/2009
Rep Moore, Dennis [KS-3] - 1/27/2009
Rep Murphy, Patrick J. [PA-8] - 2/3/2009
Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8] - 2/26/2009
Rep Pallone, Frank, Jr. [NJ-6] - 1/27/2009
Rep Perlmutter, Ed [CO-7] - 1/27/2009
Rep Polis, Jared [CO-2] - 1/27/2009
Rep Price, David E. [NC-4] - 1/27/2009
Rep Reyes, Silvestre [TX-16] - 1/27/2009
Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9] - 2/10/2009
Rep Ruppersberger, C. A. Dutch [MD-2] - 1/27/2009
Rep Sanchez, Linda T. [CA-39] - 1/27/2009
Rep Sarbanes, John P. [MD-3] - 1/27/2009
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9] - 1/27/2009
Rep Schwartz, Allyson Y. [PA-13] - 1/27/2009
Rep Shea-Porter, Carol [NH-1] - 1/27/2009
Rep Stark, Fortney Pete [CA-13] - 1/27/2009
Rep Sutton, Betty [OH-13] - 1/27/2009
Rep Tierney, John F. [MA-6] - 1/27/2009
Rep Van Hollen, Chris [MD-8] - 1/27/2009
Rep Welch, Peter [VT] - 1/27/2009
Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [CA-6] - 1/27/2009
Rep Wu, David [OR-1] - 1/27/2009
Rep Yarmuth, John A. [KY-3] - 1/27/2009
But more are needed. Can you please ask your Member of Congress to co-sponsor H.R. 702? Mahalo!