Hundreds of Early Childhood advocates, including NIM staff, providers and parents, met in Harrisburg today to call on Governor Corbett and the General Assembly to support funding for important programs that prepare young children for school.
The Governor's current budget maintains funding for key Early Childhood programs, but eliminates the Accountability Block Grant, which last year supported full day Kindergarten for 62,000 students and pre-K for 3,500. Without this funding, thousands of children are left at a disadvantage. Families are deeply impacted, as parents struggle to coordinate schedules to accommodate their children. Pennsylvania's economy is hurt through cuts to the workforce and poorer education for our young children.
Please call your legislators today and urge them to fight for a budget that invests in our youth, not one that hurts them! For your legislator's contact information, click here.
For pictures and video from Early Childhood Action Day, visit NIM's Facebook page.
See NIM's Early Learning Specialist Kellie Lyons interviewed by ABC-27 here.