Promising New Proposals
March 4, 2013
In February, the President delivered the State of the Union address. Following the speech, the Administration released The President's Plan for a Strong Middle Class and a Strong America. The plan proposes investments in four key areas: making America a magnet for jobs, equipping Americans with the skills they need, ensuring hard work leads to a decent living, and cutting the deficit in a balanced way. Stations may be particularly interested in the early childhood and high school proposals that have been outlined to strengthen education and build the skills students need to compete in a global economy.
The President is proposing to invest heavily in early childhood education during his second term. The President's plan seeks to provide all low- and moderate-income four-year-old children with high-quality preschool, while also expanding these programs to reach hundreds of thousands of additional middle class children, and incentivizing full-day kindergarten policies. His plan states that "every dollar invested in early learning and development programs saves about $7 down the road in higher earnings that yield more revenue and lower government spending on social services and crime prevention."
Public television delivers critical early education services through the federal Ready To Learn Television Program which supports the development of educational television and digital media targeted at preschool and early elementary school children and their families. With the Administration's focus on high-quality preschool programs, additional opportunities may arise to provide high-quality programming to preschool children and their families. The President's proposal does not include details or legislative language just yet, but stay tuned for more information.
The President's high school proposal is focused, in part, on modernizing high schools for real-world learning. This will be done through a new competition to "kick-start a redesign of high schools." The President's plan encourages new partnerships with colleges and employers, and the creation of science, technology, engineering, and math classes so that all students graduate prepared for college and careers. He is also proposing to invest in career and technical education so that they are better aligned with workforce needs.
While the devil is certainly in the details, this proposal could also be beneficial to stations. Stations are in a unique position to build strong partnerships that will help high school students utilize and benefit from next-generation technologies. Who better to help redesign high schools for real-world learning?
Unfortunately, with cuts looming from sequestration, it's unlikely we will see quick movement on these proposals. The program-by-program effects of sequestration are still to be determined. Congress also needs to find a compromise on the fiscal year 2013 budget. The Continuing Resolution, which is funding the government right now, expires on March 27, 2013.
However, while quick movement may not be in the cards, part of looking for grant opportunities means staying on top of and ahead of trends. Through initiatives like Ready To Learn and American Graduate, stations are collecting the data and creating a strong track record to position public media as critical, effective partners for any new opportunities that develop.
