Biden’s Pre-K Proposal Faces Questions From Republicans Over Federal Role
From Wall Street Journal: “Vance Aloupis, a Republican state representative in Florida who worked on recent preschool legislation in the state, said that he is happy early childhood education is getting attention. But he said any federal investment should give state leaders flexibility. ‘I don’t think it would be wise to have a one-size-fits-all conversation. There has to be significant flexibility provided to the states.'”
Statewide Advocacy Efforts Lead to Big Wins to Strengthen Florida’s Early Childhood System
From Alliance for Early Success: “Florida’s youngest children and their parents are big winners with this legislation to enhance Florida’s VPK program and put a greater value on early learning,” said Madeleine Thakur, president of The Children’s Movement of Florida.”
Florida Chamber Learners to Earners Summit Will Outline The Workforce Needs of Tomorrow
From Florida Politics: “House Early Learning & Elementary Education Subcommittee Chair Vance Aloupis, a stalwart advocate for early education, will bring it home in a discussion with Children’s Movement of Florida President Madeleine Thakur titled ‘Where do we go from here? Policy that aids education.’”
Transforming Child Care Access is Key to a Just Recovery
From Florida Policy Institute: “As the state emerges from the pandemic-induced recession and health emergency, policymakers need to better understand the status of child care in Florida and the significant policy opportunities that lay before them.”
Last Call for 6.15.21 — A Prime-Time Read of What’s Going Down in Florida Politics
From Florida Politics: “When you think of the state’s workforce, toddlers don’t usually come to mind. But that’s exactly how Miami Rep. Vance Aloupis thinks about Florida’s future.”
Reading Tutors Help Prepare Early Learners For Kindergarten
From K-12 Dive: “We only get one chance to do early childhood right, so we want to be able to give children and organizations the opportunity to be able to have the best opportunities for the future.”
On Pre-K, America should follow Florida’s lead ... and Florida should do better
From Orlando Sentinel: “State Rep. Vance Aloupis, a South Florida Republican who also serves as CEO of the nonprofit Children’s Movement of Florida, said lawmakers want to be able to look parents in the eye and say: ‘This is a quality program.'”
Gov. Ron DeSantis signs bills revamping early learning, literacy at West Miami Middle
From Miami Herald: “Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed into law two pieces of legislation that will reshape Florida’s early childhood learning system and create new initiatives to help struggling readers.”
The Children’s Movement of Florida Applauds Gov. Ron DeSantis for Signing VPK Accountability Reform Legislation
From Capital Soup: “We uplift the lives of all Floridians when we measure what matters and equip parents with the tools necessary to make the best choices for their child’s learning needs.”
Early learning bill will give VPK parents important information — when they actually need it
From Florida Politics: “In the age of political gossip and gotcha headlines, it’s refreshing to see the Florida Legislature come together in bipartisan unanimity to wholeheartedly embrace increased accountability for Florida’s VPK program.”
Lawmakers Hope To Turn The Page On Literacy Issues Among Florida Students
From WFSU: “This is the first time in the history of this legislature that I have ever seen literacy tackled in such a comprehensive way where we’re focused not only on the students, but the parents and for the teachers,” Aloupis says.
Florida Chamber launches Florida Equality of Opportunity Initiative
From Florida Politics: “On literacy, for instance, the “ReadingPals” program designed by the Children’s Movement of Florida and administered by 17 chapters of the United Way has seen substantial buy-in from Florida Chamber partners — the initiative now draws more than 2,000 volunteers across 26 counties.”
Madeleine Thakur: Leads Children’s Movement to get family-friendly policies
From Miami Today: “Investing in thriving children and families, she said, helps us all. Today’s pre-kindergarten students are the community’s future earners and employers, and getting workforce matters right is essential.”
Is your child kindergarten ready? 43 percent of students are not, according to state data
From CBS 12 News: “A new bill going through our legislature is turning the focus on to preschool education and taking a closer look at how pre-schools are preparing students for the next grade level.”
More than 40 percent of FL kindergarteners are not ready for kindergarten; ‘that’s a failure on us’
From Florida Phoenix: “Investing in kindergarten readiness is a down payment for our K-12 system and for the health and resilience of our communities. Twenty years on, we’ll get higher earners, more innovative employees and more thoughtful citizens.”
Social Justice Game Changer: Karen Willis
From NBA: “People in early childhood programs with their base credentials specifically focused on infant and toddler work, nobody else was doing that work in the community and the Magic stepped up and funded that for us. It has been a phenomenal partnership and to be recognized in this way for the work our organization is doing is phenomenal.”
Florida Chamber: Kindergarten readiness results underscore need for early education investment
From Florida Politics: “Children who participate in quality early learning programs are 50% less likely to need special education, 50% less likely to become teen parents, and 70% less likely to be arrested for a violent crime.”
Takeaways From Tallahassee — Balancing Act
From Florida Politics: “She and other Florida executives have joined Bosses for Babies, a group dedicated to spreading the word to employers and employees on the importance of early childhood care.”
New Poll Shows Working Parents Across Florida Impacted by Child Care Issues During Pandemic
From Florida Daily: “Smart companies will adopt family friendly policies that accommodate those needs and reap the benefits in productivity, employee loyalty and greater diversity.”
2020 Working Parent Survey Sheds Light On What Florida Businesses Can Do To Win Talent War
From Capital Soup: “Child care may also be the key to attracting a more diverse workforce since the survey showed that child care issues have disproportionately impacted Black and Hispanic parents’ ability to work, as well as mothers’ ability to work.”