Policy Pick: California Nabs Race To The Top Early Learning Challenge Grant

California took its place as one of the winners of the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge competition, securing more than $52.5 million to improve the availability of quality early childhood services for young kids.

The results were unveiled last month by the Departments of Education and Health & Human Services. Other winners included Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington. Thirty five states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, had entered the competition for $500 million in federal funding.

"We know that real and meaningful change in early learning and development - the kind that results in dramatically better outcomes for all of our children - comes from setting the highest expectations and doing the hard work of comprehensive reform," wrote Education Secretary Arne Duncan and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius in a joint letter to the governors of the winning states. "These states have created high-quality comprehensive plans to improve early learning and development programs around five key areas of reform: establishing successful state systems; defining high-quality, accountable programs; promoting early learning and development outcomes for children; supporting a great early childhood education workforce; and measuring outcomes and progress."

The Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge grants will support the work of the nine state grantees to develop new approaches to raising the bar across early learning centers and to close the school readiness gap. Awards will be invested in grantees' work to build statewide systems of high-quality early learning and development programs.

In California, the grant will be used primarily to fund local Quality Rating and Improvement Systems being developed by Regional Leadership Consortia - voluntary groups of local First 5 commissions, county offices of education and county governments. These consortia will work with licensed child care programs, school districts and child care partners.

"This grant will help more California children get good care and a good start at learning, which we know is key to their long-term success, at school and beyond," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson in a news release. "I'm proud of the teamwork that led to this win for California, and I'm grateful to President Obama for recognizing the potential of regional partnerships to improve child care programs across our state."

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