Status of 2010 Federal Funding for Early Childhood Programs

The committees in both the House and the Senate have moved their appropriations bills for early education. The New America Foundation's Early Ed Watch Blog has an excellent analysis of the proposed 2010 federal appropriations for early childhood programs.

While the House and Senate committees funded CCDBG and Head Start at the same levels President Obama requested for 2010, neither committee was willing to fund new early childhood initiatives requested in the President’s budget. Like their House colleagues, the Senate appropriations committee would provide no funding for proposed Title I Early Childhood Grants or the Early Learning Challenge Fund. ... More generally, the decline in federal investment in PreK-3rd literacy—from $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2007 to less than $300 million under either of the funding bills emerging from the House or Senate committees—should trouble early childhood advocates.

For policies to support early academic success.