Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent Joseph Roy said he's not sure how much of the grant money his district could see, but he said he hopes it will translate into focusing on increasing the opportunities for lower-income families to put their kids into pre-K programs.
Pennsylvania and New Jersey are among six states to win a combined $280 million in government grants to improve early learning programs for babies, toddlers and preschoolers.
It’s the third time the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge grants have been issued. Fourteen other states were previous winners. In total, nearly $1 billion in grants has been distributed.
The winners were announced Thursday by the Education and Health and Human Services departments, which jointly administer the program.
The winning states must show a willingness to carry out comprehensive improvements to programs focused on children from birth to age 5.
In New Jersey, the state plans to develop a statewide quality rating improvement system called “Grow NJ Kids” to better inform parents about early learning programs.
Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent Joseph Roy said he’s not sure how much of the grant money his district could see, but he said he hopes it will translate into focusing on increasing the opportunities for lower-income families to put their kids into pre-K programs.
He said the school district most likely would not increase its pre-K program.
“We have our pre-K program,” he said. “If we can develop community-based preschool programs, that would be great.”
Easton Area School District Superintendent John Reinhart said he hadn’t heard yet that funds were released to the district.
In Michigan, the plan includes expanding training opportunities for home child care providers. The other winning states in this round of the competition are Georgia, Kentucky and Vermont.
“This investment is a down payment to support and implement high-quality early learning programs across the country,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement. “There is still a lot more work for us to do.”
The Obama administration has pushed to improve the quality and availability of early childhood programs. President Barack Obama has proposed using an increase in cigarette taxes to help fund universal preschool for 4-year-olds. HHS also implemented new rules requiring lower-performing Head Start programs to compete for funding as part of an effort to improve the quality of Head Start programs.