Cortnay Cymrot, Intern

A number of states have taken important steps forward this year to expand access to high-quality early learning programs, according to a new National Women's Law Center fact sheet. While some states' budgets are still being debated, at least sixteen have already increased funding for child care and early education, and at least another eight are considering proposals for additional funding. 

Progress was made in a wide spectrum of states, including both states already providing substantial support for early care and education as well as states that had not previously made significant investments in this area. Indiana and Mississippi, which had been among the ten states that did not fund prekindergarten programs, established new prekindergarten programs, with Indiana investing $2 million and Mississippi investing $3 million. Michigan increased funding for its existing prekindergarten program by $65 million (60 percent), which will be used to serve at least 10,000 more children. 

A few states acted to enable more families to receive help paying for child care. Maryland has reduced the number of children on the waiting list for child care assistance from over 17,000 in 2012 to just 76 a year later. North Dakota increased its income eligibility limit for child care assistance from 50 percent to 85 percent of state median income (the maximum allowed under federal law) and provided funding to raise reimbursement rates for child care providers and to support grants for child care facilities and other efforts to increase the supply and quality of care. 

However, the news is not all good. Two states significantly reduced families’ access to child care assistance, and two additional states are considering cuts to child care and early education programs.

Gail Collins' column "Power to the Preschoolers", published last Thursday, emphasized the importance of investing in prekindergarten while noting the challenges that the President's Early Learning Initiative may face moving forward. Collins alluded to the previous day's "Tweetchat" generating support for prekindergarten, which was organized by National Women's Law Center. She was not the only one following the Tweetchat — it successfully placed "#PreKForAll" on the computer screens of 40 million Twitter users. The hashtag (#PreKForAll) trended nationally for almost an hour, garnering tweets from Education Secretary Arne Duncan, a number of members of Congress, and President Obama. 

Collins' column prompted an overwhelmingly supportive response among her readers on the issue of early education. The feedback in the Times comments section was largely positive, with commenters citing the benefits that early learning opportunities grant children and society. Commenters fondly recalled their own experiences with early education, suggested strategies to fund the investment, and struggled to make sense of the opposition’s concerns.