Last week, President Obama and his administration released their proposal for the fiscal year 2010 (October 1, 2009- September 30, 2010) federal budget. Investments in early education, which have long been part of President Obama’s vision for reforming education (see previous blog entry), were prominent in the proposal. Although the proposal includes a decrease in funding for one program- Title 1 Grants to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs)- and the elimination of the Even Start program, five new federal early education programs were included. These new programs include: Title 1 Early Childhood Grants, Early Learning Challenge Fund, Early Literacy Grants, Promise Neighborhoods (read more here), and Home Visitation.

Some specific proposed program funding amounts for 2010 are:
• Title 1 (Grants to LEAs): $12,992,400,000 nationally, $190,572,741 for Wisconsin. This is a $1.5 trillion decrease from the 2009 funding level.
• Title 1 (Early Childhood Grants): $500,000,000 nationally, $7,264,093 for Wisconsin. This is a new program and therefore a $500 million increase from the 2009 funding level.
• CCDBG: $2,127,000,000 nationally. Flat funding from 2009.
• Head Start: $6,514,000,000 nationally. This is a $111 million increase from the 2009 funding level.
• Early Head Start: $721,000,000 nationally. This is an $11 million increase from the 2009 funding level.
• Early Learning Challenge Program: $300,000,000 nationally. This is a new program and therefore a $300 million increase from the 2009 funding level.
• Promise Neighborhoods: $10 million nationally. This is a new program and therefore a $10 million increase from the 2009 funding level.
• Special Education Grants (Preschool): $374,100,000 nationally, $9,322,199 for Wisconsin. Flat funding from 2009.
• Early Reading First: $162,500,000 nationally. This is a $50 million increase from the 2009 funding level.
• Early Literacy Grants: $300,000,000 nationally. This is a new program and therefore a $300 million increase from the 2009 funding level.

**Although the proposed funding for these programs may not appear to make a significant increase in early education investments, it is important to remember that stimulus dollars will continue to add funding in these areas during 2010.