Minnesota 2020 Touts Early Care and Education
Recently, Minnesota 2020, a progressive, non-partisan think tank, issued a series of communications on the topic, concluding that:
“The question isn’t whether these services are needed. They clearly are. We must ask: Why is Minnesota compromising its future prosperity by refusing to properly invest in early childhood education? If Minnesota children consistently start behind at Kindergarten, it undermines the state’s long history of K-16 investment that has propelled us above our prairie competitors. The path to a strong, vibrant, nimble future for Minnesota’s economy starts on rubber-tiled floors with miniature plastic chairs and trained educators delivering researched-based lessons that advance cognitive development, not in front of grandma or a neighbor’s television.”
Read their perspective on how the 2010 Legislative Session fared for early childhood here, a featured story here and their in-depth report here.
They also put together a wonderful video summarizing their findings.
Ready4K has these five goals for the next governor:
- 1. Offer home visits and parent education to every first-time parent to help get her children off to a great start;
2. Double the number of at-risk children who participate in high-quality early learning opportunities;
3. Implement a statewide quality rating and improvement system for early learning programs;
4. Create community partnerships to coordinate and leverage investments in children’s and families’ success;
5. Appoint a cabinet-level position to lead a statewide system of child development and early learning services.
—More—
End of Session @ the Capitol - Monday, May 17
From Ready 4 K
The weekend was marked by fits and starts of floor sessions, conference committees and leadership meetings. Disagreements and clarifying of positions between all bodies over early enrollment of childless adults from General Assistance Medical Care to Medical Assistance, which would qualify for federal matching funds, was at the crux of the debate. As negotiations continued, the House and Senate passed an Omnibus Supplemental Budget bill late Saturday/early Sunday morning, which included a mix of cuts, K-12 payment shifts, medical surcharges and no tax increases. This set in motion a series of offers and counter-offers by the DFL-controlled legislature and the Republican Governor throughout the day on Sunday.
At nearly 11:45pm, legislative leaders and the governor announced a deal requiring a brief special session, which was called at 12:01am on Monday, to pass the contents of the agreed-upon bill. The bill was approved by both legislative bodies at 10 AM today and is headed for the Governor’s signature. In the end, child care fared pretty well, given the challenges of the budget deficit and the legislative-governor politics. The legislation will take the Basic Sliding Fee underspending, but that is only a one-time move and no permanent cuts were made to child care. In addition, no reductions were made in other early childhood programs.
A successful albeit messy legislative session. We’ll get out a complete legislative wrap up in the coming days!
Look for an end-of-session summary the early part of next week. And thank you for all you’ve done this year. Early care and education certainly wouldn’t faired as it has thus far without your support!
What a weekend! You’ve probably read in news reports that the 2010 Legislative Session wrapped up this morning, with a brief special session called in order to complete the work in a timely matter. The good news for early care and education is that there were no permanent cuts made to early childhood programs, most notably to child care assistance. A brief update is below, and we’ll send out a more complete summary soon.
Saturday’s session of the Legislature began with the good news that the Governor had signed the Early Childhood Policy bill into law, despite some heavy lobbying to veto the bill by key Republican members. For once, common sense and a commitment to continue to build an effective high quality early care and education system prevailed. See our Omnibus Bill Tracker for a complete summary of the new law.
Omnibus early childhood bill to governor - May 11, 2010
On its way to the governor’s desk is the omnibus early childhood bill.
The House passed the conference committee report 103-30; the Senate did so 57-10 Monday.
Sponsored by Rep. Nora Slawik (DFL-Maplewood) and Sen. Terri Bonoff (DFL-Minnetonka), HF2760/ SF2505* would direct the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care to make recommendations on three proposals. The council would appoint a task force to study and make recommendations on creating an Office of Early Learning.
The task force would consider a series of objectives related to delivering, measuring and improving quality of early childhood services. If established, an office could streamline oversight of education and child care services now administered by three departments: education, health and human services.
The council would also make recommendations on creating a statewide school readiness report card, and developing a plan to screen and assess 3 year olds and entering kindergarteners for school-readiness.
The conference committee report adopted by both bodies moved proposed screening and assessment plans to 2012.
- Kris Berggren, Session Daily
House passes early childhood omnibus bill - May 5, 2010
On a 104-27 vote, the House passed an omnibus early childhood bill that would help child care providers improve the quality of their facilities and curriculum, expand screening and assessment for young children to see if they’re on track for kindergarten and move toward establishing a state Office of Early Learning.
Kris Berggren, Session Daily - More -
Contact your State Senator - Vote No on Head Start Cut
From Ready 4 K
- …Some estimate an immediate elimination of 200 preschool children from Head Start classrooms, totalling over 840 in the next biennium.
After weeks of little progress at the Legislature, the trickle of activity is turning into a downpour. Yesterday we sent an action alert to call your House members to support the Early Childhood Policy Bill when it comes up for a vote on the floor of the House this afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Senate has proposed over $1.3 million in cuts to Head Start funding. Head Start is a critical program for many families to ensure their children start kindergarten fully prepared for learning success.
Problem:
An amendment to SF 3028 was proposed last night in the Senate Finance Committee that proposes significant and long-term cuts to Head Start in Minnesota. The amendment includes $1.345 million in cuts for 2011 and $2.2 million annual cuts each year of the 2012-2013 biennium.
While the state is facing significant budget challenges to resolve in coming weeks, balancing the budget at the expense of the education of our youngest, most vulnerable citizens will have long-term negative consequences for Minnesota’s future.
The magnitude of these cuts will mean hundreds of young children across Minnesota will lose services, teachers will be laid off, and small communities will lose valuable early education infrastructure. Some estimates of the impacts would be an immediate elimination of 200 preschool children from Head Start classrooms, with additional cuts of 320 children in 2012 and 2013. This means that over 840 children will enter school less prepared for learning than their peers.
Action Needed:
Please call AND email your Senator TODAY and tell them to reject these cuts to crucial Head Start programs in their community.
Deadline for responding: Please take action by May 5.
ACT NOW!
Call your State Representative - Support the Early Childhood Policy Bill
Early Childhood Policy Bill Set for House Vote on May 5
From Ready 4 K
We’re heading into the final days of the 2010 Legislative Session, and your help is needed today!
Update:
We are tracking several key pieces of legislation, including an Omnibus Early Childhood Policy Bill and budget bills for Education and Health & Human Services. The House and Senate HHS budget bills “capture” $7.5 million of Basic Sliding Fee “unspent” funds from 2009 that were slated to be redistributed to counties with child care waiting lists. The Senate also adopts the governor’s 5% cut to the base funding of Basic Sliding Fee child care assistance. We are pleased, however, that neither of the bodies recommended a cut to child care provider reimbursement rates. Most of the provisions in the Early Childhood Policy Bill are also included in the budget bills.
To view more details about the bills, and to track their progress, check out our omnibus bill tracker. You can also track our activity by following Ready 4 K on Twitter. As the budget bills make their way through the conference committee process, we will fight to ensure that deeper cuts to early childhood are not made, and will be calling on you to contact the members of the conference committees. So stay tuned for another Action Alert on that issue.
Action Needed:
The Early Childhood Policy Bill will be up for a vote on Wednesday May 5 on the House floor, and your Representative needs to hear from you! Since the vote is coming up right away, please CALL your Representative. Click the Act Now button for more details and a sample message. Then, when you click on Send Message, your Representative’s phone number will appear. You can also find out who represents you here. THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO FOR OUR YOUNGEST CITIZENS.
Deadline for responding: Please take action by Wednesday May 5th.
ACT NOW!
MN Senate has proposed over $12 million in cuts to child care assistance for Minnesota families
From Child Care WORKS
Child Care WORKS is following this closely and will keep you up to date as this proposal moves forward. Sign up for their e-updates to stay informed!
This Week @ the Capitol - April 9, 2010
From Ready 4 K
This week at the Capitol, legislators returned to work after a week-long break, and spent a lot of time moving smaller bills through the process. The passage of federal health care reform will have huge implications for the budget in Minnesota, and it is still not clear how much money the state will receive. While we expect the Senate to release their human services budget in the next week or so, which will include child care, the final result hinges on how fast details emerge about the federal health care changes. Check out MinnesotaBudgetBites.org for a good summary of what health care reform means for Minnesota. The education budget is anticipated to be released following the passage of the HHS budget.
The House Housing and Public Health Committee released their budget this week, and included no cuts to family home visiting. This bill will be rolled into the Omnibus HHS bill.
We also learned that the Economic Development provisions of the omnibus budget bill that passed the Legislature last week included roughly $200,000 in taconite proceeds to be used to build an Early Childhood Community Center in Nashwauk, MN. This was a project that had sought bonding dollars this year and would have been eligible for funding through the early childhood facilities grant program that the Governor line-item veteod.
We are beginning to plan for the conference committee process, talking to likely members and preparing our tracking documents. Check out the initial draft of our 2010 Conference Committee Tracker, which will replace the bill tracker once we see the E-12 Education and HHS budgets from the Senate.
Next week is Week of the Young Child and is an opportunity to honor young children and thank teachers and all those who make a difference in young children’s lives. We are working with the Legislative Early Childhood Caucus to plan some activities—possibly voting on some key legislation or reading a proclamation during session—to raise awareness of the week (Thursday is a likely day for these activities), and we will keep you informed of any advocacy that is needed.
If you’d like to plan some activities in your community, the National Association for the Education of Young Children has a great handbook outlining a variety of ideas for ways that early childhood programs and other organizations can plan events that:
- • Promote early literacy and learning in your community
- • Thank teachers in your community
- • Influence public policy in your community, in your state, and nationally.
To view the handbook or other resources, visit http://www.naeyc.org/woyc.
Follow Ready 4 K for breaking early childhood news at the Capitol!
PACER’s 2010 Family Leadership Summit - Saturday, May 1, 2010
Information
The Family Leadership Summit is an opportunity for parents of young children with special needs or health concerns who want to gain leadership skills and improve outcomes for other children and families facing similar concerns.
Come learn how to advocate for your children!
Who should attend the Family Leadership Summit:
Participants will:
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Agenda 8:30-9:00 Registration & Continental Breakfast 9:00-9:30 Welcome and Introductions 9:30-10:15 Why Parent Leadership?, Judy Swett 10:15-10:30 Breakfast 10:30-11:45 Fostering the Leaders Among Us 11:45-12:45 Lunch and Networking 1:00-2:00 Grassroots Organizing 101, Kim Kang 2:00-2:45 Parent Panel 2:45-3:00 Action Plans, Evaluation & Close |
Saturday, May 1, 2010
8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
At Pacer Center
You may register online or by phone:(952) 838-9000. Registration is required and must be received by April 15, 2010.
Accommodations will be available for parents traveling more than 70 miles one way. Local and regional IEICs are encouraged to financially support the attendance of one or two parent representatives.
For more information visit http://www.pacer.org/ec/summit/ or contact Judy Swett at 952-838-9000 or 800-537-2237.
Registration is required and must be received by April 15, 2010.
Space is limited, so please register early.
Sponsored by PACER’s Family Information and Resources Project. Funding for this workshop is made possible with a grant from the Minnesota Department of Education. The source of the funds is from federal awards, Special Education - Part B 619 and Part C.
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