Alexandria, Va. – October 2, 2008 – The National School Boards Association and the Center for Public Education (CPE) have received a two-year $447,000 grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts to build upon its far-reaching initiative to engage school boards in support of high quality, voluntary pre-Kindergarten education. The new funding will enable CPE to add two new partners to its pre-K network: the Alabama Association of School Boards and the Kentucky School Boards Association. For the last two years, CPE has worked in partnership with the state school board associations from Kansas, Ohio, and Texas to inform local school board members, state policymakers, and the general public about the benefits of pre-K education and effective pre-K policies and programs.
The Pre-K partnership has two overarching goals:
- engage school board support on behalf of high-quality, voluntary pre-Kindergarten in the partner states; and
- disseminate information broadly about the short- and long-term benefits of pre-K to other states and nationally through NSBA’s networks and conferences.
"We are delighted to continue to partner with The Pew Charitable Trusts," Anne L. Bryant, NSBA's executive director, said. "The last two years have shown us that school boards will get behind pre-K because it has been proven to help their efforts to narrow achievement gaps and assure student success. We are especially glad to be joined in this work by our colleagues in Alabama and Kentucky. Both states represent tremendous potential for furthering the public discussion about pre-K education."
CPE’s pre-K initiative has already helped raise school board visibility in early education policy discussions in the partner states. The initiative is also succeeding at making school board members nationally more aware of the benefits of pre-Kindergarten education. The next two years will continue to focus on building collaborations with other education groups and pre-K advocates, and increasing the school board role in this vital issue.
“Over the past seven years The Pew Charitable Trusts has made improving access to high-quality pre-K for all three- and four- year olds one of our top priorities,” said Sara Watson, senior officer of The Pew Center on the States at The Pew Charitable Trusts. “We are proud to partner with the National School Boards Association and the Center for Public Education to help local school boards understand how quality early education programs can help young people succeed in school and in life.”
The Center for Public Education is a unique program that provides balanced, impartial information and research on the challenges and successes in K-12 public education. For more information and resources from the Center, visit http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/.
The Pew Charitable Trusts (www.pewtrusts.org) is driven by the power of knowledge to solve today's most challenging problems. Pew applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improve public policy, inform the public and stimulate civic life. We partner with a diverse range of donors, public and private organizations and concerned citizens who share our commitment to fact-based solutions and goal-driven investments to improve society.
Founded in 1940, the National School Boards Association is a not-for profit federation of state associations of school boards representing 95,000 local school board members throughout the United States. Its mission is to foster excellence and equity in public elementary and secondary education through local school board leadership. NSBA represents the school board perspective in working with federal government agencies and national organizations that impact education, and provides vital information and services to state associations of school boards throughout the nation.