The Arizona Early Education Funds (AEEF) were created as part of the Governor’s School Readiness Action Plan to build the capacity of local communities to provide quality early childhood education.  The funds were established at the Arizona Community Foundation in partnership with the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona and the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona.

AEEF was tasked with raising private donations and galvanizing the business community in support of quality early childhood care and education at the local level.  AEEF is helping build an early education infrastructure by providing seed money to support the creation of regional partnerships or expand the capacity of partnerships that already exist.

These regional partnerships are meant to mobilize entire communities around quality early care and education, and are made up of local stakeholders including parents, child care providers, health professionals and representatives from public schools, business, local government, philanthropy, the faith community and law enforcement. Modeled after the North Carolina Smart Start effort, each regional partnership identifies early care and education funding priorities based on local needs and assets.

By funding this network of regional partnerships, AEEF is building the infrastructure necessary to distribute the funds raised by Proposition 203.  An assessment is underway to determine how existing partnerships would need to adapt in order to be eligible for Proposition 203 funding.  Funding from the Ellis Center for Educational Excellence is also allowing technical assistants to work with the unfunded partnerships across Arizona to help prepare them for the transition.

Funded Regional Partnerships

Programs funded by the early Education Funds include:

1. Early Literacy Initiatives: Children today are expected to come to kindergarten ready to read. Children who are not reading by kindergarten face great obstacles in catching up; if these same children are not reading by the third grade, they are statistically much more likely to drop out of high school. Quality early literacy programs make a difference to young children.

2. Professional Development and Support for Early Education Teachers: The quality of a child’s first teachers are important to their early learning success. Yet, in Arizona, childcare teachers are among the lowest paid and least supported. To improve the early learning experiences of young children, it is critical to increase the pool and retention of qualified early childhood education professionals through training, formal education and wage and benefit enhancements.

3. Quality Improvements for Child Care and Preschool: Programs, especially those serving low-income children, need additional resources and support to improve the quality of their programs through curriculum development, professional development of teachers, capital improvements, physical improvements, and involvement of parents.

4. Child Health Programs: Early diagnosis of health problems can prevent learning delays by getting children into early intervention programs and services. However, many children do not receive screening for health problems such as vision, hearing, behavioral health or other developmental issues. Training and resources are needed for childcare centers to serve as identification points for health issues at the earliest opportunity. Teachers and parents need information and advice on healthy choices for good nutrition, secure social-emotional attachments, physical growth, oral health and ways to encourage optimal brain development.