All parents hope their child will start school ready for success. Unfortunately, not every parent can find the high-quality early learning opportunity that sets their child up for success.

Earlier today the U.S. Department of Education released a new report outlining the unmet need for high-quality early learning programs in America. Roughly 6 in 10 four-year-olds are not enrolled in publicly funded preschool programs, and even fewer are enrolled in the highest quality programs.

Unmet Need

While both states and the federal government invest in early learning, these efforts have fallen short of what is needed to ensure that all children can access a high-quality early education that will prepare them for success.

Significant new investments in high-quality early education are necessary to help states, local communities, and parents close the readiness gap that exists between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers.

For Latino children, the unmet need is especially great. While Latinos are the fastest growing and largest minority group in the United States, making up a quarter of 3- and 4-year-olds, Latinos demonstrate the lowest preschool participation rates of any major ethnicity or race.

And while most children who have access to preschool attend moderate-quality programs, African- American children and children from low-income families are the most likely to attend low- quality preschool programs and are the least likely to attend high-quality preschool programs.

Source: blog.ed.gov

How's Your Community Doing?
Check Out it's
Community Vital Signs

Creekstone Daycare Secures Large State Grant

A Kansas meat-packing plant is getting $500,000 from the state to build a daycare center for the children of its 1,500 employees, the Hutchinson News reports. The Walnut Valley Learning Center is...more

Huntingdon Valley'S Innovation &Amp; Exploration Stem Early Learning Center Hiring Full-Time ...

A Philly-area preschool is looking for a full-time STEM preschool teacher to start in 2023. The Innovation & Exploration STEM Early Learning Center's mission is "to provide a safe, inclusive,...more

Land Trusts Offer an Innovative Way to Help the Middle Class Afford a Home
Foundation: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

" homeownership is increasingly out of reach for many Americans." That's the takeaway from a report from the Center for Community Land Trust Innovation, which notes that the number of nonprofit...more

States Push for Harsher School Discipline Practices to Address Student Misbehavior

"It's a very short-term measure, and it's not thinking about how we're actually building safe and healthy schools." That's the opinion of Thalia Gonzalez, a professor at the University of...more

Families in Ottawa County to Get Help Accessing 'High-Quality Childcare' with State Grant

"It's not like our goal is just to get as many child cares as possible," a Michigan school district's director of early childhood services tells MLive.com. That's why the Ottawa Area Intermediate...more

It's time to start planning summer fun for the kids - Tribeca Citizen

If you're looking for a New York City summer camp for your kid, there's no better place than the Downtown Dance Factory in Tribeca. The camp, for kids ages preschool through middle school, is...more

Child Care Costs Nc Money, Yadkin Tries New Model

North Carolina may soon be the first state in the nation to require pre-K teachers to tell parents when their children are changing their gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality. State...more

Challenges Finding Caregivers and Educators for Children

"My job is to build humans," John Searles, superintendent of Midland County's Educational Service Agency, tells MLive.com. That's why he's pushing a plan that would see every 4-year-old in...more

Long Overlooked, Child Care Industry May Finally Get a Permanent Lifeline from Beacon Hill

"We are still struggling to find, attract, and retain workers in this field," says Laura Perille, CEO of Nurtury, a Massachusetts nonprofit that provides child care for some of the state's poorest...more

Start Your Preschooler Off Right At Young Innovators Academy

"From climate change to technological advances to precision gene therapy, this world is changing so fast that it's hard to process. You want your kids to have as much of an advantage as possible...more