Child Care and Early Education Advocates

Could Be Celebrating Soon!

Last Friday, June 5, we learned that, when convened, the special legislative session will include a vote on:

$90 million in new early learning funding for early learning scholarships and school readiness programs
$2 million each for the Northside Achievement Zone and St. Paul Promise Neighborhood

Also, the legislature passed and the Governor signed a DHS Bill including:

$10.02 million in additional funding to reduce the CCAP-Basic Sliding Fee waiting list
New investments in home visiting and nurse-family partnership programs
Implementing recommendations of the Child Protection Task Force

You Are Invited to a Discussion

Where Do We Go From Here?

Facilitated by Cisa Keller, Think Small’s director of early childhood

quality development

At the next meeting of

the Early Childhood Directors Group

Thursday, June 18^th - 10:00 am – noon

Think Small - 2021 Hennepin Ave. E., Mpls 55413

Join other center directors to discuss the status of early childhood policy and funding issues and how to prepare for 2016 and beyond.

EC Directors Group meetings are open to all

No RSVP necessary. For more info, contact Nancy Johnson: njohnson@thinksmall.org

Note: my phone has changed to: 651-523-7295

Visit our blog at: www.ecdirectorsgroup.blogspot.com

MinneMinds Message of the Week

"Early learners and vulnerable families win this year -- tens of thousands of three- and four-year-olds who might have fallen behind will attend high quality early learning programs of all types next year because of bi-partisan investments made by the State Legislature and Governor Mark Dayton."

The following Session Update is from the MinneMinds Coalition:

Special Session Education Budget Revealed: major investments in early learning!!!

Last Friday afternoon (06.05.15) the full budget was released, as agreed to by Governor Dayton and legislative leaders.

The budget includes nearly $90 million in new early learning funding targeted for low-income families, in addition to $2 million each for the Northside Achievement Zone and St. Paul Promise Neighborhood, as well as new investments in the Child Care Assistance Program and Home Visiting from the Health and Human Services budget.

This includes more than $48 million in new funding for early learning scholarships, bringing the total early learning scholarship fund to $104 million. By our calculations, this will provide a scholarship for approximately 20,000 3- and 4-year-olds over the next two years!

While we can never be 100% assured that additional changes won't be made to the bill, this is likely to reflect the final budget. This would be a huge session for early learning, particularly for vulnerable Minnesotans -- coming close to doubling the amount of funding for early learning access for low-income families.

Please make sure to share this message with others as you talk about the end of session and the education budget in the coming days and weeks.

You can see the spreadsheet breakdown of the E12 bill here

Read Frank Forsberg's statement on the E12 budget here

We expect a special session to be called sometime in the upcoming days to actually pass legislation.

Does Your Center Protect Children From Sun Damage?

Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States. Just a few sunburns can place someone at risk for skin cancer later in life. During National Melanoma/Skin Cancer Month check out the CDC's website on protecting children from the sun. Every child care program should have written policies and practices to promote sun safety

Resources:

The Surgeon Generals' Call to Action to Prevent Skin Cancer

Caring for Our Children Standard 3.1.3.2 Playing Outdoors

Caring for Our Children Standard 3.4.5.1 Sun Safety Including Sunscreen

Caring for Our Children Standard 6.1.0.7 Shading of Play Area