Federal Budget & Early Childhood Education Briefing

1. Federal Budget & Early Childhood Education Briefing NAEYC March 8, 2011

2. Federal Dollars & Early Childhood • Federal funds account for 75-80% of public dollars spent on 0-5, and are a significant part of K-12 and higher education • Major federal programs • Child Care & Development Block Grant (CCDBG) funds to states for family assistance, licensing, prof dev, qris, resource & referral • Head Start & Early Head Start grants for comprehensive programs • IDEA Part C and 619 – special education/early intervention • TANF – formerly known as welfare, can be transferred to CCDBG at state level or direct child care assistance • Pell Grants provide scholarships for higher education • Title I of ESEA/NCLB helps equalize education and can be used for birth through high school

3. Budget Areas • Defense and security = 20% of the budget • Social security = 20% of the budget • Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP = 21% of the budget • Other safety net = 14% of the budget • Interest on the national debt = 6% • Veterans, research, transportation, education, international aid (nonsecurity), other = 19% Source: Congressional Budget Office 2010

4. ARRA/stimulus • Fiscal crisis for states and localities as well as rising individual fiscal concerns (high unemployment, home foreclosures) creates ARRA for a two-year period • CCDBG $2 billion • Head Start/Early Head Start $2.1 billion • IDEA, Title I, Pell and many other programs receiving large ARRA increases

5. Without ARRA – Lose 300,000 Children from Child Care, Head Start and Early Head Start • ARRA funds do not become the new “baseline” • States use CCDBG to reduce waiting lists, increase quality initiatives – even with ARRA, wait lists are now growing, concern of having to limit quality initiatives • Head Start and Early Head Start open classrooms with additional children and new staff, improve quality – threat of closing classrooms

6. Current Situation: Continuing Resolutions & Shutdown Threats • 111th Congress failed to finish most appropriations bills for FY 2012 (October 1 2010 – September 30 2011) • Continuing Resolutions – can be unlimited in time and in number • Current CR ends March 18 • Failure to pass a CR leads to federal government shutdown (and federal spending shutdown)

7. HR 1 • Current debate is cutting spending on nondefense, nonsecurity domestic discretionary spending • HR 1 cuts $61 billion from programs, no revenue raising -- includes • Head Start $1 billion cut • CCDBG $39 million cut • Title I $693 million cut • IDEA $557 million cut

8. If enact HR 1 -- • 368,000 currently served children will lose child care, Head Start and Early Head Start • New baseline for CCDBG and Head Start and other programs re-set by HR 1

9. This Week in the Senate • HR 1 has passed – now it’s the Senate’s turn • Senate will take up HR 1 this week • Senate Democratic Leadership alternative • Both will need 60 votes • Call Your 2 Senators: VOTE NO on HR 1

10. Next Steps • Could be more short term CRs – have your colleagues sign up for Children’s Champions (do not need to be a NAEYC member) • Collecting stories – advocacy@naeyc.org – examples: • Families using subsidies to get quality care otherwise unaffordable • Teachers receiving TEACH scholarships • Waiting lists in programs for Head Start, Early Head Start