The Honorable Patty Murray
Ranking Member, U.S. Senate Committee
on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Johnny Isakson
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Robert Casey
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Mark Kirk
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Murray, Senator Isakson, Senator Casey and Senator Kirk:
On behalf of the nation’s governors, we applaud your amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act to empower state-led efforts to align and improve early childhood education as a part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
The expansion of public preschool in states across the country is a bipartisan success story about governors bringing creativity and commitment to promoting school readiness for all children. Governors’ early leadership in this area continues to yield numerous advances and innovations that improve the quality and access of early education for our nation’s youngest students.
Your bipartisan amendment builds on that progress and reflects recommendations put forth by Governors’ Principles for Federal Early Childhood Education Legislation by recognizing the lead role governors play in early education, providing states maximum flexibility for implementing this new program and supporting state efforts to build high-quality early childhood education alignment and infrastructure.
As policymakers responsible for the well-being and education of children of all ages, governors are uniquely situated to bring state agencies together to align and coordinate early childhood education and K-12 policies. We look forward to working with the Senate to ensure gubernatorial leadership is supported in your amendment and included throughout the Every Child Achieves Act.
Sincerely,
Governor Brian Sandoval
Chair
Education and Workforce Committee
Governor Maggie Hassan
Vice Chair
Education and Workforce Committee
