Young Children

2009 Legislative Agenda

mjennings — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 20:28:17 -0500

The Children's Alliance 2009 Legislative Agenda lays out our top priorities in this tough legislative session.

Legislators Recognized for Drawing the Future for Kids

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:19:52 -0400

A crowd of children and parents gathered to
honor state leaders from western Washington on Saturday, August 14th at
the first of three Early Learning Action Alliance (ELAA) Crayon Award events organized by the Children’s Alliance.

State legislators were honored for their outstanding work in early
learning during the 2010 legislative session during a stage event emceed
by Representative Eric Pettigrew (37th District) at the Early Learning
Community Fair in Seattle. At the event, six state legislators joined
community members and early learning stakeholders from across the Puget
Sound region to celebrate the importance of early learning in the lives
of Washington’s children and families and to pledge further support of
early learning in the year ahead.

August budget cut could mean rough winter for families

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:45:43 -0400

While there was a fair amount of media coverage about the reduction in state child care assistance announced last week, there was less attention to the single largest category of that $51 million budget cut: the loss of financial assistance for low-income parents.

2010 Early Learning Action Alliance Federal Legislative Agenda

siobhan — Mon, 24 May 2010 13:33:34 -0400

The Early Learning Action Alliance recognizes that federal laws and policies have a direct impact on the opportunities young learners have in Washington State.

Read our federal legislative agenda for 2010.

Home Visiting, Health Care Reform, and what's next

siobhan — Tue, 04 May 2010 19:01:05 -0400

Find out more about what federal health care reform means for home visiting. Lisa Guernsey from the New America Foundation posted this podcast on their blog, Early Ed Watch.

Find the post and listen to the podcast here:

http://earlyed.newamerica.net/blogmain

Early Learning Action Alliance Provides Analysis of 2010 Legislative Session: Budget, Pre-K Timeline and Session Review

siobhan — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:09:36 -0400

These three documents from the Early Learning Action Alliance (ELAA) provide detailed review of key accomplishments in the 2010 WA state legislative session.

Early Learning Action Alliance 2010 Session Review

Provides a review of each ELAA priority and advocacy results. Includes information about HB2731, SB 6759, HB 2867, and HB 3141.

Early Learning Action Alliance Budget Update - April 2010

Early Learning Action Alliance Letter to Early Learning Plan Drafting Team

siobhan — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:06:16 -0400

In June 2009 Governor Chris Gregoire directed her key education staff to develop a proposal for the 2010 legislative session to ensure that all Washington children and their families have the benefit of early childhood eduction. The drafting team is convened by the Director of the Department of Early Learning, Bette Hyde and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Randy Dorn. The Early Learning Action Alliance submitted an initial, detailed letter to the drafting Team.

Race Matters Toolkit: Unequal Opportunities

siobhan — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:17:07 -0400

The Annie E Casey Foundation has created a Race Matters Toolkit. The toolkit is designed to help decision-makers, advocates, and elected officials get better results in their work by providing equitable opportunities for all.

We're in the news: Stimulus Shores Up Early Learning

siobhan — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:59:06 -0400

The Seattle Times published a guest opinion piece by Children's Alliance Executive Director Paola Maranan and Chris Korsmo, Executive Director of the League of Education Voters. Here's an excerpt;

MILLIONS of American children were thrown a lifesaver this spring when President Obama dedicated $4 billion of federal stimulus money — including about $50 million for Washington — to shore up Head Start, Early Head Start and other programs that help low-income families find good child care and preschool options for their kids.

read more

Governor asks for early learning proposal

siobhan — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:07:12 -0400

In this June 8th, 2009 letter Governor Gregoire directs the Superintendent of Public Instrucation and Director of the Department of Early Learning to create a proposal for the state's role in early learning. The action follows the Governor's veto of the inclusion of early learning in the new definition of Basic Education passed by the legislature in 2009.