Things We’re Thankful For

Early Ed Watch is going to be taking off the next few days to allow us to enjoy some turkey and all the fixings with family and friends. But we’ll be back next week with more early education coverage, including this New America event. In the meantime, the holiday spirit has got us thinking about some of the things we’re grateful for this Thanksgiving:

1. We’re grateful that, for the first time ever, both major party Presidential nominees recognized the importance of early education and released plans to improve quality, access and alignment in early education.
2. We’re grateful for the incredible innovation that continues to occur in early education at the local, state, and research level. And we’re grateful to see some of those innovations, such as the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) becoming increasingly integrated into a growing number of state early education systems.
3. We’re grateful that, despite the tight fiscal climate, most Governors and state legislatures stood firm on early education funding for fiscal year 2009, bringing state pre-k spending to a record $5.2 billion this year.
4. We’re grateful that Washington, D.C., passed legislation committing to make high-quality pre-k universally available to all 3- and 4-year-olds in the District by 2013.
5. We’re grateful for the many Senators and Members of Congress who have advocated for early education this year, and that they’ll be joined by several new colleagues with strong early education records come January.
6. We’re grateful to you: In less than a year of its existence, Early Ed Watch’s readership has grown tremendously. Thank you for reading our blog and making that possible.

What are you grateful for this holiday season? Let us know in the comments.