February 14, 2011

U.S. Department of Education

INVESTING IN EARLY LEARNING

President Obama remains committed to an early learning agenda that supports a continuum of learning 

beginning at birth and continuing through third grade. A robust body of research demonstrates that highquality early learning programs and services can improve health, social-emotional, and cognitive outcomes, 

can improve school readiness across a range of domains, can close and even prevent achievement gaps, and 

are among the most cost-effective investments along the educational pipeline. These programs can also be an 

important component of school reform because they prepare children to thrive in school, putting them on 

the path to graduate high school and be ready to succeed in college and a career. 

The President’s 2012 budget request includes major investments in a number of programs that will fund 

grants that seek to improve the quality of and access to early learning programs and services across all 

settings, especially for high-need children: 

 $350 million for the new Early Learning Challenge Fund, President Obama's proposal to make 

competitive grants to challenge States to establish model systems of early learning for children, from 

birth to kindergarten entry, including children with disabilities and English learners. These model 

systems would promote high standards of quality and a focus on outcomes across all settings to 

ensure that more children enter school ready to succeed.

 $489 million for Early Intervention Programs for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities, $50 

million more than the 2011 CR level in formula grants to help States implement statewide systems of 

early intervention services to assist all eligible infants and toddlers with disabilities from birth through 

age 2 and their families through IDEA Part C. These funds would increase the average State 

allocation by almost $1 million, help States serve an estimated 360,000 infants and toddlers, and 

encourage States to extend early intervention services to children through age 5. Additionally, this 

request would allow the Department to award up to $4.4 million for State Incentive Grants (since the 

request is above $460 million) to facilitate a seamless system of services for children with disabilities 

from birth until kindergarten. 

 $374 million for Preschool Grants for Children with Disabilities, in formula grants to help States 

make a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment available to all children 

with disabilities ages 3 through 5. This program provides over 730,000 young children with 

disabilities additional supports to help ensure that they succeed in school. 

 $150 million for Promise Neighborhoods, to support projects that significantly improve the 

educational and developmental outcomes of children and youth in our most distressed communities 

and to transform those communities by providing a cradle-to-career continuum of ambitious, 

rigorous, and comprehensive education reforms, effective community services, and strong systems of 

family and community support – with high-quality schools at the center. The Secretary may give 

priority to applicants that propose to implement a comprehensive local early learning system as part 

of the applicant’s cradle-to-career continuum.

 

In addition, the Department is proposing new and continued investments in programs that can improve 

the school readiness of young children and lay the foundation for success for children in kindergarten 
through third grade. Funds from the following programs may be spent on children who are in preschool 

through third grade:

 $14.8 billion for College- and Career-Ready Students (formerly Title I Grants to Local 

Educational Agencies). Since the enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

(ESEA) in 1965, Title I funds have been available to provide services to eligible children birth to 

school entry. The Administration encourages districts and schools to use this flexibility to invest 

Title I funds in high-quality preschool programs for eligible children, joint professional development 

for school staff and the early learning workforce, and coordination with early learning programs and 

services.

 $600 million for School Turnaround Grants, which would make available formula grants to States, 

to support States and districts as they implement rigorous interventions in their persistently lowestperforming schools. The Administration believes that high-quality early learning programs can be an 

important element of school reform, and school interventions may include locally designed plans that 

recognize and meet a broad range of student needs from preschool through grade 12, including 

improving the school readiness of young children. 

 $300 million for Investing in Innovation, which provides competitive grants that expand the 

implementation of, and investment in, innovative and evidence-based practices, programs and 

strategies that significantly improve student achievement and close achievement gaps. These grants 

can support activities that develop or expand innovations for improving early learning outcomes. 

Improving early learning outcomes is one of several priorities under consideration for the 2012 grant 

competition. 

 $900 million for Race to the Top, which would create and drive educational improvement in States 

and districts by providing a financial incentive for system-wide reform and innovation. States and 

districts will be held to ambitious performance targets while providing them flexibility to use funds in 

a manner that supports their reforms. The Secretary will consider giving priority to projects that are 

designed to improve early learning outcomes. 

Additional investments in programs that can benefit young children include:

 21st Century Community Learning Centers ($1.27 billion)

 Assessing Achievement ($420 million)

 Effective Teaching and Learning for a Complete Education programs ($835 million)

 English Learner Education ($750 million)

 Excellent Instructional Teams programs ($3.25 billion)

 IDEA Grants to States ($11.7 billion)

 Indian Education - Demonstration Grants for Indian Children ($19 million)

 Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems ($100 million)

 Successful, Safe, and Healthy Students ($365 million)

The Department of Health and Human Services is also investing in programs that benefit young children by requesting 

significant increases in funding for the following programs:
 $8.099 billion for the Head Start program, which provides grants to local public and private nonprofit and for-profit agencies to promote school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive 

development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other 

services to disadvantaged children and families. This request maintains the historic expansion in 

Head Start and Early Head Start under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, allowing the 

program to serve approximately 968,000 of our nation's most vulnerable children and families.

 $6.344 billion for the Child Care and Development Fund, which provides grants to States for 

child care subsidies for low-income families who are working. This request would increase funding 

over the previous year by $1.3 billion, allowing the Administration to continue to maintain child care 

for 1.7 million children, enhance health and safety standards, improve the quality of care, and 

support state systems that empower parents to select high-quality care.