Call2Action from Preschool California: PRESERVE + PROTECT FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, HEAD START AND EARLY HEAD START

email from Preschool California

February 24, 2011

Dear Friend,

Today, Feb. 24, is a national call-in day to urge senators to preserve and protect significant investments in early childhood programs, including the Child Care and Development Block Grant, Head Start and Early Head Start. The current continuing resolution (CR) for the federal budget expires on March 4 - just two weeks away. The bill passed by the House, H.R. 1, cuts 368,000 children from Head Start and child care programs. If this bill is enacted, 14,000 children in California would lose access to child care and preschool and an additional 25,000 would lose access to Head Start and Early Head Start programs across the state.

Even though we are already almost five months into the federal government’s fiscal year 2011, Congress still has not finished their appropriations process. And the current temporary fix – a continuing resolution – expires on March 4. A vote on H.R. 1 will soon move to the Senate, which will have to act before the March 4 deadline.

Please call 202-224-3121 and thank Senators Feinstein and Boxer for their continued support of California’s children and ask them to ensure that the final appropriations measure for FY 2011 protects these vital early learning programs.

The clock is ticking and we must do everything we can to help ensure that children do not lose the child care and early learning supports they need to succeed and their parents need to work. Please call 202-224-3121 today.

When you are put through to your Senator’s office, ask to speak to the staffer that handles child care and early education. Tell them your name, that you are a constituent and your affiliation with any organizations, Head Start or child care program. Then, ask them to:

• Protect funding for child care, Head Start, and Early Head Start to help us build a smarter, healthier, and stronger America.
• Sustain the funding for Head Start/Early Head Start and child care so that 368,000 children do not lose these valuable supports.

We are getting down to the wire, but we can’t rest until we see this through – the stakes are just too high. Thank you so much for your ongoing support.  We’ll keep you up to date as this unfolds.