CARLINVILLE – Carlinville school district officials, Mayor Deanna Demuzio, and State Senator Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) welcomed Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to Carlinville Intermediate School last week for a tour of the district’s pre-kindergarten program facilities and a meeting to discuss the governor’s early childhood education goals.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
“I’m deeply optimistic about the future of child care and early education in rural communities like Carlinville and the one I grew up in,” Manar said. “We have a governor who is committed to building an early childhood education system that empowers every student in Illinois to start kindergarten off on a strong foot, and I look forward to working with him to make it happen.”
The visit took place as Pritzker gears up to build on the state’s record investment of $100 million in early childhood education programs, which will provide pre-K to 14,000 new children across Illinois. Last month, Pritzker announced a 20% increase to the reimbursement rate for child-care centers and home-based providers in certain rural and downstate communities, including Macoupin County.
"From our aggressive efforts to secure federal funding to our historic investments in early childhood programs and facilities, Illinois will become the best state in the nation for families raising young children," Pritzker declared last month. "We have so much more to accomplish for Illinois families and their children, and this administration will continue investing in the care and education our kids need to succeed."
Manar, the architect of the state’s landmark Evidence-Based Funding reform for K-12 schools in 2017, plans to help push the state’s long-term plan to deliver equitable access to high-quality early childhood education and care services for all children birth to age 5.
In December, Pritzker selected Manar to co-chair the Governor’s Commission for Equitable Funding for Early Childhood Education and Care.
More like this:
