STATEMENT: CAP’s Neera Tanden Applauds White House Invest in US Campaign to Encourage Renewed Investments in High-Quality Early Childhood Education

Washington, D.C. — Today, at the White House Summit on Early Childhood Education, the White House announced the launch of its Invest in US campaign to encourage renewed investments in high-quality early childhood education across the country. At the summit, Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden will participate on a panel titled “Challenging Leaders to Invest in Early Education,” which can be streamed live by clicking here. Tanden also released the following statement:

A nationwide commitment to high-quality early childhood education is the least we can do to ensure that all children have an equal opportunity to succeed in life. There are few better investments that we as a nation can make: Research shows that the early years of a child’s cognitive and emotional development, more than any others, establish their direction in life. And as other nations prioritize early childhood education, it is clear that bolstering our own preschool programs is critical if we want to build a workforce that will remain economically competitive in the future.

More and more, public and private leaders, from all walks of life and on both sides of the aisle, are recognizing that an investment in early childhood education is one that will pay dividends for generations to come. The key to a strong workforce and a strong middle class is investing in our greatest resource—our children—starting at birth.

This week, CAP released a new article that highlights why the United States needs a federal investment in high-quality early education, from expanding access to low-income children and students of color to closing the school-readiness and achievement gap. Click here to read “Why We Need a Federal Preschool Investment in Six Charts.”

Related resources:

• A First Step Towards Fixing Child Care by Katie Hamm
• New Child Care Regulations Are a Step in the Right Direction by Maryam Adamu
• The Importance of Early Childhood Programs for Women on the Brink by Katie Hamm

The following CAP experts are available today to discuss early childhood education:

• Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress
• Carmel Martin, Executive Vice President for Policy
• Katie Hamm, Director of Early Childhood Policy

For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, please contact Allison Preiss at 202.478.6331 or apreiss@americanprogress.org.

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