Recently, the BUILD Initiative and the First Five Years Fund announced the formation of the Early Learning Challenge Collaborative, which will help states compete for Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge funds and assist them in implementing their plans for early learning. Another partner, the Birth to Five Policy Alliance, will join the implementation effort by sometime next year.
As Laura Bornfreund of New America Foundation notes, what this actually means in terms of money for states to get their applications written is yet unknown. In earlier rounds of Race to the Top, the Gates Foundation gave applicant states $250,000 to hire consultants, develop their plans, and write the applications. Whether the Early Learning Challenge Collaborative can match that money remains to be seen.