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LATEST NEWS

  • DC Council Budget Hearings Impact Funding for Education Initatives

    • The District of Columbia Council will hold public hearings for the FY2011 budgets of city agencies in April 2010.  Pre K for All DC is interested in how funds are allotted to the City's education agencies because of their direct impact on the city's children. Pre K for All invites all stakeholders in early childhood education to follow and participate in these hearings in order to ensure that all children in the District of Columbia have access to high quality early childhood learning opportunities. 

     

     

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  • DC Council Passes Emergency Legislation to Accelerate Pre-K Implementation

    • On Tuesday January 5, 2010, the Council of the District of Columbia voted unanimously to pass the Pre-K Acceleration and Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2010. This emergency act will fast track the implementation of the landmark Pre-K Enhancement and Expansion Act of 2008 that ensures that all three- and four-year-olds in the District of Columbia have access to high-quality pre-k programs by September 2014.

     

     


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our approach

To realize our vision, Pre-K for All DC builds public knowledge, will, and action around the promising social and economic returns that a high-quality early care and education system can generate for the District of Columbia. This three-pronged strategy of building knowledge, will, and action is the essence of Pre-K for All DC’s unique advocacy and public engagement approach.

Building Public Knowledge: Demonstrating the Social and Economic Returns

National research demonstrates that children who attend a high-quality pre-k accrue lifelong benefits such as stronger academic achievement, higher rates of high school graduation, and higher lifelong earnings. This greater likelihood of lifelong success translates into tremendous education, health, and criminal justice cost-savings to communities like the District of Columbia. Pre-K for All DC regularly publishes economic analysis and research that illustrates these returns for the District of Columbia. Click here to learn more about the promising social and economic returns generated by investments in early care and education.

Building Public Will: Raising the Public Dialogue and Discourse

Pre-K for All DC aims to raise a dynamic and robust civic dialogue around the promising, research-based social and economic returns that high-quality early childhood can generate. In addition to informaing and engaging the media, Pre-K for All DC convenes community town halls, workshops, and online forums to build public will among key community stakeholders and the general public. These townhalls and forums have become opportunities for stakeholders to find common ground and for policymakers to find common purpose. At a February 2008 town hall meeting, DC Council Chair Vince Gray announced his intention to introduce universal pre-k legislation, and at a March 2009 town hall, over 200 stakeholders participated in a “teach-in” to gain a greater understanding of the pre-k legislative implementation process and its implications for their professional and persona lives.

Building Public Action: Connecting People with Policy

Pre-K for All DC seeks to connect an informed, engaged public with opportunities to take action on behalf of young children. Through our regular mailings and online e-communications network, Pre-K for All DC rallies the public at critical junctures in the policy formation and legislative processes within the District. Through our online investor profiles, Pre-K for All DC also seeks to foster efficacy among early care and education professionals and parents by informing them of ways to make a difference on their own – whether to improve their own skills as a teacher or become a more effective parent. In the summer of 2010, Pre-K for All DC will introduce a new, interactive tool for supporters to create their own “Investor Profiles” and begin to make a broad impact on behalf of our shared agenda. Right now, go to our Take Action section to learn how to do more for young children in the District.