(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Thursday, April 10th, 2014, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and former preschool teacher, attended a hearing to examine the Strong Start for America’s Children Act, which would significantly increase access to quality early learning programs that start when a child is born and last until their first day of kindergarten. At the hearing, Senator Murray called on Republicans to support this legislation and point to a wide array of groups, from military leaders and business executives, to law enforcement officials and state lawmakers, that support expanding access to early learning programs.
“I’m very supportive of the Strong Start for America’s Children Act, and I hope our Republican colleagues give us good input on this and that we can get strong bipartisan support and move it forward,” Senator Murray said at the hearing. “I think it’s absolutely critical–we can’t continue doing studies telling us how important early childhood education is and then just hope it happens. I think we have to have it be a national priority.”
The Strong Start for America’s Children Act focuses on four key goals: boosting funding for high-quality preschool programs serving low- and moderate-income families; increasing the quality of infant and toddler care offered by providers; supporting broad-scale quality improvements to child care programs; and encouraging continued support for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program. Read more about the bill.
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