Siskin Children’s Institute will host a community viewing of the White House Summit on Early Education on Wednesday from 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m..
The summit will bring together a broad coalition of philanthropic, business, education, advocacy and elected leaders, as well as other stakeholders who are committed to expanding access to high-quality early education. This summit builds on the president’s call in his 2013 State of the Union address to expand access to high-quality early childhood education to every child in America. The president proposed a series of new investments that will establish a continuum of high-quality early learning for a child—beginning at birth and continuing to age five.
During the summit, the president will announce the states and communities that will receive $250 million in Preschool Development Grants and $500 million in Early Head Start Child Care Partnership awards to enhance and expand preschool programs and to improve access to high-quality infant and toddler care in high-need communities. In addition to those grant announcements, the President will also highlight new private sector commitments to expand children’s early learning opportunities.
Over the last several months, senior administration officials have traveled across the country to hear from local officials, education experts, business leaders, and the philanthropic community about how to best advance the president’s agenda to expand access to high-quality early education for all Americans.
As part of that effort, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Learning at the U.S. Department of Education, Dr. Libby Doggett recently visited Siskin Children’s Institute, met with the family of a child with special needs served by the Institute’s home visiting program and learned about the work of the Institute’s Center for Child and Family Research. Additionally, Dr. Doggett spoke with Institute board members and local special needs and education advocates including representatives from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the Public Education Foundation.