Obama calls early education ‘one of the best investments’

President Barack Obama on Wednesday called early education “one of the best investments we can make” and announced that more than $1 billion in federal and private funds will go toward programs for young learners.

He made the announcement at a White House summit on early education, which convened education advocates, business leaders and elected officials.

SEE ALSO: Preschool, the first big step in a child’s development

Today, less than one-third of 4-year-olds are enrolled in a preschool program. Obama said this number is low not because working parents don’t want to send their kids to preschool, but because they can’t afford the high cost of these programs. The president said this is an even bigger problem among poor children, whom he said need the early childhood education the most.

Among Latinos, this is also a problem. The National Council of La Raza estimates that Latino children make up about a quarter of children under five years old, but only half of them are enrolled in early education programs.

“We’ve got kids in this country who are every bit as talented as Malia and Sasha, but they’re starting out the race a step behind,” Obama said. “They deserve better, and the whole country will do better if we fix that. So that’s what this day is all about.”

The president announced that his administration is awarding $750 million in federal grants to support early education. This includes $250 million in grants that were awarded to 18 states at the summit to create or expand preschool programs. A total of 36 states had applied for the grant money.

It also includes $500 million from the Department of Health and Human Services that’ll be awarded to almost every state to expand Early Head Start programs and provide early care and education to thousands of infants and toddlers next year.

According to the White House, more than 63,000 additional children will be able to benefit from early education thanks to these federal dollars.

SEE ALSO: Latinos lag in early childhood development, have lowest preschool rate

In addition to the federal funds, more than $330 million from corporate and philanthropic leaders will go toward efforts to expand early education for thousands of more children.

The money was collected through the “Invest In Us” campaign led by the First Five Years Fund, which was started by those in the private and public sectors in response to Obama’s call for more investment in early education. Among those that have already donated to the campaign are The Walt Disney Co., the LEGO Foundation and the PVH Corp.

Obama finished his speech at the summit by calling for even more investment in early education.

“All of us are here because this country gave someone in our family a chance to beat the odds,” the president said. “None of us were supposed to. Those of us lucky enough to share in this country’s promise now have a responsibility to ensure that for all the young people coming behind us who aren’t supposed to, that they have those same opportunities.”

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