Advocate for Education
At United Way of America, our goal is to advance the common good through the promotion of quality education, stable income, and good health for everyone. In education this means helping children and youth achieve their potential, from birth through high school graduation. Early childhood education is one of the United Way system’s top priorities, and United Way of America strongly urges federal support for comprehensive, effective programs to address this vital issue. As Congress and the President make reauthorization and appropriations decisions on early childhood education programs, United Way of America recommends adherence to the following principles: 1) High quality inputs and performance standards; and 2) Broad accessibility and availability.
Support our public policy in the area of EDUCATION.
Expand the Child Tax Credit
Protect Healthy Start H.R. 3267: Contact your Representative
Support The Education Begins at Home Act [S. 667/H.R. 2343]
United Way Success By 6 Initiative
United Way Success By 6® is the nation’s largest early childhood coalition, enabling more than 350 communities across the country to implement outcome-focused strategies to positively affect early childhood development and help children be ready to succeed when they enter school. Building on 17 years of early childhood work, United Way Success By 6 has launched a national impact plan to significantly advance school readiness. The main elements of this initiative are:
1. A nationwide engagement campaign to inform and motivate parents and other caregivers to apply the latest research to support early learning;
2. Increasing the quality of out-of-home early learning opportunities; and
3. A strengthened infrastructure to further develop the abilities of the nationwide network of state and local United Way early childhood coalitions to mobilize resources and influence systems to increase school readiness.
United Way Success By 6 has a history of collaborating with other United Way priorities such as Head Start and the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF).
Head Start
Founded in 1965, Head Start is a federal program run by the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Head Start promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of pre-school age children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to enrolled children and families. Head Start was built on the belief that early intervention, through a targeted array of comprehensive services, would enable every child to live up to his or her highest potential. To further build on those efforts, in FY 1995 the Early Head Start program was established to serve children from birth to three years of age in recognition of the mounting evidence that the earliest years matter a great deal to children's growth and development. Head Start Policy Recommendations:
1. United Way of America recommends that Head Start’s comprehensive and quality performance standards be improved or at least be maintained.
2. United Way of America recommends full funding of Head Start, with an increase of $1 billion for the next fiscal year.
3. United Way of America recommends that Early Head Start be expanded.
4. Understanding that outcomes rely on high-quality inputs, United Way of America supports valid, reliable and appropriate assessment for the populations on which they are used and for the specific purposes for which they are intended.
Child Care and Development Fund
The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) (formerly named the Child Care and Development Block Grant) makes grants to states and Indian tribes that provide child care services to working families. CCDF, enacted in 1990, is designed to:
1. Allow each state maximum flexibility in developing child care programs and policies that best suit the needs of children and parents within that state;
2. Promote parental choice to empower working parents to make their own decisions on the child care that best suits their family's needs;
3. Encourage states to provide consumer education information to help parents make informed choices about child care;
4. Assist states in providing child care to parents trying to achieve independence from public assistance; and
5. Assist states in implementing the health, safety, licensing, and registration standards established in state regulations.
Improving High School Completion
Every 26 seconds a student in the United States drops out of high school. United Way is working with congress to develop and progress legislation and initiatives aimed at reducing the high school drop out rate and better prepare our youth for college, work, and life.
CCDF Policy Recommendations
1. United Way of America recommends that mandatory and discretionary funding levels be increased towards full funding.
2. United Way of America recommends that the establishment of quality rating systems be an allowable use of quality dollars within CCDF. Elements of a quality rating system may include program learning environment, family partnerships, staff training and education, adult-to-child ratios, and program accreditation.
For more information, please contact Jacque Minow, Manager, Public Policy, at jacque.minow@uwa.unitedway.org, or 703.836.7112, Ext. 491.