NIEER newsletter 4/24

Hot Topics

U.S. Senator Casey Introduces Bill That Would Boost State Pre-K
Congressional Quarterly reports that Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has introduced a bill (S. 839) that would provide grants for states to provide at least one year of voluntary high-quality pre-K to low-income children. Among its provisions, the Prepare All Kids Act calls for programs to use research-based curricula, have children-to-teacher ratios no greater than ten to one and require teachers to have bachelor's degrees within six years. Casey proposes housing the program in the U.S. Department of Education. He is quoted as saying "…what's lacking is a real strategy for early education beyond what we have in Head Start." The bill is similar to one by the same name that he introduced in 2007. He did not provide an estimate of the program's cost.

North Carolina's More At Four Program Remains in Danger
A budget plan passed in the North Carolina Senate calls for More at Four, the high-quality preschool program created by former governor Mike Easley, to be cut by $40 million and shifted from the Department of Public Instruction to the Department of Health and Human Services. The Senate budget is now in the House but Speaker Joe Hackney has as yet made no assurances the funding will be restored.

California Proposition 1D Would Siphon Money Out of Fund for ECE
It was more than a decade ago that Rob Reiner successfully championed Proposition 10, the measure that financed early childhood development programs through a 50-cent-per pack cigarette tax. Now a new ballot measure, Proposition 1D, asks voters to approve shifting nearly $1.7 billion out of the surpluses in that fund to help balance the state's general fund. Another ballot measure, Proposition 1E, would siphon $460 million from surpluses in a fund for mental health services. Senate President Pro Tem, Darrell Steinberg, a supporter of early childhood education who pushed for Prop. 1D termed it a "temporary sacrifice" but Reiner doesn't see it that way.

World Bank Report: Latin America Needs Early Childhood Development Programs
A soon-to-be published report from the World Bank says early childhood development services across Latin America cover only a small fraction of the beneficiary populations, noting that in terms of inequality of opportunity between the haves and the have-nots, the region is second only to sub-Saharan Africa. Titled "The Promise of Early Childhood Development in Latin America and the Caribbean," it addresses the substantial returns to be gained from investment in early childhood services in the various countries in the region and makes policy recommendations. Details are available at the World Bankweb site.

PNC Announces "Grow Up Great with Science"
The PNC Foundation announced this week it is pledging up to $6 million in three-year grants to regional science centers and nonprofits to expand science opportunities for preschoolers. Called "Grow Up Great with Science," it is part of PNC Financial Services Group's 10-year $100 million philanthropic effort in early education that started in 2004. Bank officials and guests, including Elmo from Sesame Street, celebrated the program's launch at the National Air and Space Museum - one of the 14 science centers to receive funding. A recent NIEER working paper shows that teachers tend not to support science and math learning in pre-K.

In Japan, Preschoolers are Attending "Cram Schools"
The Christian Science Monitor reports that in order to compete for the best primary schools Japanese parents are now sending their preschoolers and kindergartners to ojuken, or cram schools, where they take special classes and complete workbooks. The schools are viewed as supplements to Japan's play-based early education policy. Read the full story here: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0423/p06s01-woap.html.