Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced the Obama Administration’s intention to devote $500 million to a new Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge program.
The Race to the Top program received $700 million during Congress’s recent action on the fiscal year 2011 budget; $200 million will continue the traditional Race to the Top program and $500 million will be dedicated to this new Race to the Top- Early Learning Challenge program.
Citing the need to close the school readiness gap, Secretary Duncan and Secretary Sebelius stated that states will be able to apply for funding on a competitive basis to create comprehensive plans to better coordinate early learning systems, address learning standards and workforce development, among other issues. States will be encouraged to increase access to quality early learning programs for children from low income and disadvantaged backgrounds, align early care and education programs, support the workforce, create evaluation systems to document and share effective practices and successful programs, and help parents make informed decisions for their children.
The Race to the To-Early Learning Challenge will be administered jointly by the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. Starting today, the public may provide input, including data and relevant research, by visiting http://www.ed.gov/blog/2011/05/watch-live-duncan-and-sebelius-make-major-announcement-about-race-to-the-top-and-early-learning/. Guidance, eligibility, range of awards and number of grants will be announced in coming weeks. The application will be released later this summer with grants awarded to states no later than December 31, 2011.
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