Today’s News and Views is about early childhood education, which has had trouble finding a home (and non-discretionary funding) in Washington State. Last year, early learning supporters — who range from policy experts to sheriff’s deputies — cheered when lawmakers took a significant first step toward fixing the problem by creating a more comprehensive definition of basic education. Take a look at the real-world impact of an aligned, integrated curriculum that extends the benefits of pre-k, benefiting children and giving taxpayers more bang for the buck.

The $250 Million Question: Will the Governor’s Education Bill Get a Good Enough Grade from the Feds? | In Tuesday’s (02.20.2010) Morning Fizz, Publicola reported that two former nemeses—education reform advocates like the State Board of Education vs. the teachers union, the Washington Education Association (WEA)—were in accord this year on Gov. Chris Gregoire’s new education bill, a follow-up to the bill that passed over WEA’s objections last year. | Publicola

House Early Learning Testimony | Tuesday the 19th (Feb, 2010), several early learning bills were heard in the House Early Learning & Children’s Services Committee. The three bills heard, HB 2431, HB 2731, HB 2867, are very important to early learning and the children that they will impact. | Foundation for Early Learning

More PreK-3rd on Video: South Shore in Seattle | “A New Beginning” makes a case for PreK-3rd alignment by providing compelling images of the work that is being done by the young students of South Shore School in Seattle. South Shore, an elementary school led by principal Sherrie Encarnacion, is creating an aligned, integrated curriculum to keep students engaged and prevent the benefits of attending high-quality Pre-K from fading out in the elementary years. | New America Foundation