Earlier this week, California joined the competition for federal Race to the Top education reform funds, and early childhood education advocates were pleased to see that early learning is a key component of the state education reform agenda that is laid out in the application.
In vying for its share of the $4.35 billion in federal funds, California mentions early learning repeatedly throughout its 129-page application – a recognition that early learning programs play an important role in making the state competitive for a share of the funds.
Advocates were also happy to see that among the 800 local educational agencies that signed agreements to address each of the Race to the Top reform areas, nearly a third also committed to improving the quality of early childhood education by helping students make better transitions between preschool and kindergarten, a voluntary element of the agreements.