Recent State Policy Advances
Expanded investment. Restructured agencies. New caucuses, committees, and coalitions. Read about all the ways our allies on the front lines are making their state a better place for each and every child to reach their full potential.
State By State:
Utah Coalition Celebrates Passage of Full-Day Kindergarten Option
The Utah Full-Day Kindergarten Now! Coalition of more than 50 organizations is joining with Utah families to celebrate the passage of a full-day kindergarten option across the state. A bill passed by the legislature and signed by the governor provides greater access to optional full-day kindergarten in Utah by funding the program the same way grades 1 through 12 are funded.
North Dakota Advocates Are Building A Movement for Child Wellness Through Trust—One Community at a Time
The Foundation for a Healthy North Dakota (FHND) and their public interest communications firm have developed a silver bullet strategy for empowering communities to take charge of child wellness and define what community health looks like. They listen. Read how they turned this inquiry into outreach that was responsive to communities’ needs and perspectives and grounded in their unique contexts.
Alliance Allies in South Dakota Launch Game-Changing Child Care Supply Maps
In another example of the Alliance Effect, Alliance allies Early Learner South Dakota (an initiative of the South Dakota AEYC) and the Committee for Economic Development have partnered to design a comprehensive set of statewide interactive early care and education program data maps to address South Dakota’s historical challenge of having very little publicly available child care supply and demand information.
Alliance Technical Assistance Helps Delaware Build Momentum on Child Care
Momentum for accessible and high-quality child care is gaining steam, and advocates say technical assistance from he Alliance for Early Success has played a big part in their ability to seize the opportunity.
Washington State Coalition Celebrates Supreme Court Win on Funding Stream for Early Childhood Programs
The Washington Supreme Court ruled on March 25, 2023, that the state’s new capital gains tax is constitutional—a decision that upholds a powerful new revenue stream that is expected to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for crucial early childhood programs through the state’s recently enacted Fair Start for Kids Act.
Mississippi Continues to Build Support for Pre-K—and Doubles Its Number of Early Learning Collaboratives
Mississippi just celebrated the ten-year anniversary of its launch of a collaborative pre-k program, a mixed-delivery model that allows families in communities to choose the setting and style that works for them. The 2013 debut allocated $3 million for 11 early learning collaboratives. By 2023, $24 million is enabling Mississippi to support 35.
Texas Unveils a New Data Tool for Understanding School Readiness
Alliance allies at Texans Care for Children have launched a new school readiness dashboard that is more than just a tool for gathering and communicating the expected data about the state’s young children. It represents an expansive new way of thinking about school readiness.
State Advocates Advance Policies to Advance the Early Care and Education Workforce
Advocates in several states fought for and won policy changes that demonstrate the bold and inspirational thinking that can advance a state more toward a more diverse, effective, prepared, and well-compensated early childhood workforce.
New Hampshire Develops a Field Grant Program to Benefit Community Partners and Support Advocacy Efforts
New Futures learned that many coalition partners did not engage in advocacy because many of their funding sources prohibited advocacy or gave unclear guidance on allowed activities. To overcome this barrier, New Futures developed their Advocacy Field Grant program with support from their Alliance for Early Success grant.
Alaska Launches Competitive Grant Program to Expand and Improve Existing Pre-K Programs
Alaska leaned in to state-funded preschool this year, with Governor Mike Dunleavy signing into law the Alaska Reads Act in June. The new law includes a small competitive grant program to develop pre-K programs in districts where none exist, or to expand and improve existing pre-K programs.
Louisiana Allies Demystify Social Emotional Learning to Fend Off Unfounded Challenges to Standards
Alliance allies at the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children (LPIC) mounted a successful campaign to protect social-emotional learning (SEL) standards in early education and K-12 schools after the Louisiana’s state school board proposed to remove them from the state’s early learning development standards.
Grassroots and Coalition Building Efforts Lead to a Successful New Mexico Ballot Initiative for a Permanent Early Childhood Revenue Stream
New Mexico’s Constitutional Amendment 1 passed with 70% of the vote. Advocates at OLÉ—part of the Alliance’s New Mexico Child Care NEXT coalition—worked with field partners at Vote Yes for Kids who had never worked on early childhood education issues before. But the staff and members understood what a victory would mean for the state’s communities and the country. The Constitutional Amendment authorizes a 1.25% increase in the annual appropriations of the fund, with 60% of the incremental revenue to support programs for children age 0-5.
