RI official says award will improve early learning
PROVIDENCE, R.I.—State Education Commissioner Deborah Gist said Friday that Rhode Island's second "Race to the Top" federal education award will help to dramatically improve pre-school learning in a state that didn't even have public pre-kindergarten programs until two years ago.
Rhode Island is one of nine states to win an Early Learning Challenge grant in the Obama administration's education funding competition. The winners were announced at a White House ceremony.
Gist said the state applied for $50 million over the next four years, but the amount of the award was not immediately announced. The state expects to learn the amount next week, she said.
In its application, Rhode Island said it planned to use the funding in part for professional development, creation of a kindergarten entry assessment and development of stronger "early learning" standards for preschoolers.
Elliot Krieger, a spokesman for Gist, said five schools in Rhode Island -- three in Providence and two in Warwick -- have publicly funded pilot pre-school programs.
This year's other winners were California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio and Washington. Thirty-five states as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico applied.
Rhode Island last year was one of 12 states to win first-round "Race to the Top" funding for K-12 education; the $75 million grant was the largest federal education award in state history. Gist's office said Friday only five other states won awards in both rounds of the competition.
Gist said the pre-school initiatives that will be made possible with the new funding will meld perfectly with efforts already under way to improve children's elementary and secondary education.
"We want them to be ready when they come to school, and then once they get to school we want them to have an amazing educational experience," she told The Associated Press.
Gov. Lincoln Chafee, an independent, said the new grant will help increase access to early learning for "high-needs populations."
"This award will benefit our state for many years to come," he said in a statement.
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed said the key to improving education is collaboration. The Rhode Island Democrat said the new round of funding can help reshape early childhood education in a way that will make the state a national model.
