About
The Congressional Pre-K Caucus seeks to foster bipartisan and comprehensive conversations on early education to ensure our nation’s children are afforded high-quality, accessible education. The caucus aims to provide a forum for members of Congress to:
- Examine early education;
- Explore best practice programs; and
- Develop policy recommendations to improve and expand early education.
We created this caucus in an effort to bring attention to the benefits of high-quality Pre-K. This issue deserves national action – it’s of national importance and concern. The United States ranks 28th in early learning enrollment, with 29 percent of four-year-olds enrolled in state funded Pre-K. This standing lags far behind our competitor nations around the world. Studies show that students who complete high-quality Pre-K programs are more likely to find academic and career success than their peers who don’t.
It’s clear that expanding access to early education should be a priority for Congress, and this caucus will continue to increase awareness of high-quality Pre-K’s value and energize conversations on Capitol Hill around the issue.
Caucus Highlights from 115th Congress:
- Arranged a kick-off event to welcome Caucus members back to Congress in conjunction with Sesame Workshop
- Explored the benefits of early education with Council for a Strong America and Mission: Readiness to show how early learning can improve the pool of young people who meet the standards for military service
Caucus Highlights from 114th Congress:
- Launched the Caucus in April 2016 with the help of Sesame Workshop
- Held a briefing on Head Start, featuring former director Dr. Blanca Enriquez and a Head Start grant recipient, Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP)
- Organized a briefing on Early Education Outside the Classroom highlighting sport, TV, and literacy campaign benefits
