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Yesterday was a big day for PennCAN and fellow early childhood education advocates: the Senate voted to restore $50 million for the Accountability Block Grant, a critical funding source for full-day kindegarten and pre-K programs across the state, as a part of their budget amenment. Governor Corbett’s original budget proposal eliminated the Accountability Block Grant, which would have crippled school districts still recovering from last year’s budget cuts and forced them to shut down their full-day kindergarten and early childhood programs entirely.
As part of our 2012 policy agenda, we’ve been calling on lawmakers to preserve funding for the programs that help Pennsylvania’s youngest constituents “start smart.” I was thrilled to see senators protect funding for these life-changing programs and sent them a letter telling them so.
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Jonathan Cetel is the founding executive director of PennCAN: The Pennsylvania Campaign for Achievement Now. Visit www.PennCAN.org for more information on how you can join Pennsylvania’s new movement to provide great schools for all.