At the Askwith Forum, “Politics and Preschool: President Obama’s Plan for Early Education,” on Wednesday, April 10, moderator Professor Hirokazu Yoshikawa and panelists Ajay Chaudry, deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Jacqueline Jones, former deputy assistant secretary of Policy and Early Learning at the U.S. Department of Education; Assistant Professor Stephanie Jones; and Professor Jack Shonkoff shared their expectations, hopes, and fears surrounding the future of this policy.
“Not a lot has changed until this moment,” said Stephanie Jones.
The forum came the same day Obama released his national budget which proposes spending billions on the early childcare initiative, including $75 billion over the next 10 years for a major expansion of preschool programs for low- and moderate-income 4-year-olds.
“There’s a lot of detail that needs to be figured out,” said Jacqueline Jones, noting that the budget was “aspirational.”
Author: Jill Anderson
Source: Harvard Graduate School of Education