Blog: A Strong Start for America's Children

Statement

This week, I was proud to work on moving the Strong Start for America's Children Act forward in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. This legislation makes important investments in early learning and can help us to close the achievement gap in education.

Research has clearly demonstrated that investments in early learning pay off in numerous ways including increased kindergarten readiness, better learning outcomes, increased high school graduation rates and decreased interactions with the criminal justice system, as well as greater involvement for parents in their children's education.

I'm proud that Wisconsin has long been a leader in investing in our children early. Education for four-year-olds was part of Wisconsin's Constitution in 1848 and the first kindergarten in the United States was founded in Watertown, Wisconsin in 1856. We also have strong childcare and early learning partnerships that take a community approach to providing every child access to high quality education and care. And I have heard from parents throughout Wisconsin about the positive impacts these programs are having on their families.

Yet this investment is not consistent nationwide and as a country, we lag behind many other developed nations in providing strong and comprehensive early learning from birth to five years old. There is more work to be done to ensure that every parent that wants a strong foundation for their children can access one.

The Strong Start for America's Children Act will help make this a reality. The measure will fund preschool for four-year-old children of families earning below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and encourage states to spend their own funds to support preschool for young children in families with incomes above that level. It also establishes partnerships between Early Head Start Childcare programs and child care providers to help child care centers and family child care homes improve their care and services.

I am pleased that the HELP Committee was able to approve this important bill and will now send the legislation to the Senate floor for consideration. It is time for the Senate to follow the bipartisan approach to advancing early learning that has flourished in cities and states throughout the nation so that we can make the promise of a strong start for every child a reality today.

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