Facts In Action

On January 8, 2002, President Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The act included:

• $75 million in FY2002 for Early Reading First, a new early literacy program for preschool-age children,

• $30 million ($15 million in FY2002) for the Early Childhood Professional Development Program, a program to improve the knowledge and skills of early childhood educators who work in programs located in high-need communities and that serve concentrations of children from low-income families, and

• $9 billion over five years for the 21^st Century Community Learning Centers.

For more information:
about the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, go to the official web site at www.ed.gov/nclb.

In other federal news, on February 4, 2002, the Bush Administration released its version of the FY2003 budget on the tail of the President's State of the Union address. Despite a stated commitment to improving early care and education for America's children and families, the administration's proposed budget suggests otherwise. Answering one of the most anticipated questions regarding reauthorization of Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) and the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the President has proposed no increase in CCDBG for 2003. In addition, the budget eliminates the Early Learning Opportunities Act, which has provided $25 million to help local communities improve families' access to quality early learning programs. The only increase for child care proposed in this budget is $130 million for Head Start. For more information about early care and education provisions in the Bush Administration's FY2003 budget proposal, contact the Children's Defense Fund at (202) 662-3671, or by email at CDFchildcare@childrensdefense.org.

Facts in Action, February 2002