Yesterday’s big news was the awarding of $250 million in federal Race to the Top funds to Massachusetts, nine other states and the District of Columbia.

In other news, earlier this month President Obama signed legislation passed by the United States Congress to provide $10 billion to support teacher jobs and $16 billion to help states fund Medicaid (FMAP). An estimated $655 million from this bill is coming to Massachusetts; of this, Governor Patrick today allocated $204 million directly to school districts. State leaders have yet to decide how to distribute the rest of the funds. The absence of FMAP relief prior to Governor Patrick’s signing of the FY2011 state budget resulted in $372 million in last-minute cuts across multiple departments, including the Department of Early Education and Care. The state now has an opportunity to restore critical funding for high-quality early education and care programs known to improve children’s school readiness and later academic achievement.

Read the letters that we sent to Governor Patrick and the state Legislature encouraging them to restore critical funding for high-quality early education and care to the FY2011 state budget.

Visit our website for more information about the potential impact of FMAP relief on funding for young children and families.