Program Effectiveness
Policy Brief/Analysis
Improving Public Financing for Early Learning Programs
Date
January 1, 2011
By W. Steven Barnett and Jason T. Hustedt
NIEER Policy Brief (Issue 23, April 2011)
Summary
How we fund early care and education varies greatly from program to program, across states, and across levels of government. Most funding sources exist independent of one another, in different departmental jurisdictions and local, state, and federal governments each have their own funding approaches. This brief reviews sources and models of public financing of early care and education and makes recommendations for improving upon what currently exists so as to remove barriers to increasing program access and quality.
The Authors
W. Steven (Steve) Barnett is a Board of Governors Professor and the founder and Senior Co-Director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University. Dr. Barnett’s work primarily focuses on public policies regarding early childhood education, child care, and child development.