WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) today offered his support for a new $500 million Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge competitive grant program to help states improve and expand access to early education. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services announced the initiative today following legislative efforts by Senator Coons and others who advocated for a program for early learning similar to the successful Race to the Top.
“All too frequently, children enter elementary school already lagging behind those who have attended quality early learning programs that teach development skills,” Senator Coons said. “The Early Learning Challenge program is important because I strongly believe we need to give our kids the best start possible. The Early Learning Challenge program will improve the quality of our early-learning education and increase the number of children eligible to receive it.”
The Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge will reward states that develop comprehensive plans for transforming their early learning systems with better coordination, clearer learning standards, and meaningful workforce development. States applying for challenge grants will be encouraged to increase access to quality early learning programs for low income and disadvantaged children, design integrated and transparent systems that align their early care and education programs, bolster training and support for the early learning workforce, create robust evaluation systems to document and share effective practices and successful programs, and help parents make informed decisions about care for their children.
Senator Coons cosponsored legislation in March — the Supporting State Systems of Early Learning Act (S. 470) — that would create a similar grant program and earlier this month, Senators Coons joined Senators Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) on a letter to Secretary Duncan and Secretary Sebelius urging them to implement the type of grant program described in the bill.
“Investing in early learning is one of the best investments in education that our nation can make,” they wrote in the letter. “Noted economists have shown that an investment in high-quality early childhood education yields an estimated $3 to $17 for every dollar invested. Research demonstrates that high-quality early education programs help reduce the need for special education and education remediation, lower juvenile justice rates, improve health outcomes, increase high school graduation and college matriculation rates, and increase self-sufficiency and productivity among families.”