Issue Position: Early Childhood Education

Issue Position

It all too often said that the best investment in our future is to invest in children. Its time we put our money where our mouth is. Illinois needs to lead a major new push to be a national leader in early childhood development, reaching children at a moment in their lives during which they are highly adaptive, and better preparing them with the skills they need to begin their K-12 education.

Even with the growth of Head Start and other early childhood programs, there still remains a large gap between families who can afford to send their children to a quality preschool, and those who cannot.

My Plan:

* I will overhaul the state's childcare program that provides childcare subsidies to families. I will reduce the childcare co-pay to reasonable levels, eliminate waiting lists, and create a sliding scale for working class families to qualify so they don't lose their benefits if they get a new job, a raise, or a promotion.

* I will ensure the successful implementation of Preschool for All, which opens up the doors to preschool for families who make too much to qualify for the federal Headstart program, but can't afford preschool on their own.

* I will push to expand Full-Day Kindergarten so that every parent in the state who wants to send their child to full-day kindergarten has the opportunity to do so.

* And I will work to provide capacity building grants for child care and Early Head Start centers to be able to accommodate this investment and ensure a healthy, productive environment for our children.

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