The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (H.R.3221), which contains a provision for the Early Learning Challenge Fund (beginning on pg. 125 of the bill), was passed yesterday by the US House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor. As part of President Obama’s earlier plan to invest $10 billion over 10 years to improve early education, the fund will offer $1 billion in competitive grants each year for 8 years to states to enhance the quality of early learning for children ages birth to five. You can read more about the fund and its purposes here. The only Wisconsin Congressperson on the Committee, Representative Thomas Petri, voted in favor of the bill.

The bill will hopefully move to the floor next week to be voted on by the full House of Representatives before their recess in August. If you support this investment in early education, contact your representative TODAY to tell him or her that you support the Early Learning Challenge Fund. See our previous blog entry for more information on taking action. Although the bill has not been brought up in the Senate, a companion bill is expected to be created and introduced in the fall.