Winners in the $250 million Preschool Development Grants program and recipients of $500 million in Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership awards will be announced at a White House early-childhood education summit in December.
President Barack Obama will announce the winners and host “philanthropic, business, education, advocacy and elected leaders” Dec. 10, according to a White House statement Wednesday. Thirty-five states and Purto Rico have applied to the U.S. Department of Education for the preschool development grants. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has received more than 600 applications for the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership grants.
The summit is meant to build on Obama’s 2013 call, during his State of the Union address, to expand early- childhood education to all 4-year-olds across the country, according the statement. “Since the President’s call to action, more than 30 states and cities have established new programs or expanded access to preschool,” the statement said.
A White House event focused on early-childhood education took place in early October as well, but it was hosted by several non-profit and governmental organizations, not the president himself.
The president is also expected to “highlight new private sector commitments” to early-childhood education.