Robin Roberts interviewing Michelle Obama at a previously held White House Summit on Working Families. Photo: from the White House’s website.

Next week, on Wednesday, December 10, 2014, the Obama administration will host a summit on early education. During the event, the president will announce which communities have won grants to help build their preschool infrastructure.

“The summit will bring together a broad coalition of philanthropic, business, education, advocacy, and elected leaders, as well as other stakeholders who are committed to expanding access to high-quality early education,” a White House press release says.

“During the summit, the President will announce the states and communities that will receive $250 million in Preschool Development Grants and $500 million in Early Head Start Child Care Partnership awards to enhance and expand preschool programs and to improve access to high-quality infant and toddler care in high-need communities.”

The president will also “highlight new private sector commitments to expand children’s early learning opportunities.”

The summit builds on the call to expand preschool that President Obama made in his 2013 State of the Union address, in which he said:

“Study after study shows that the sooner a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road. But today, fewer than three in ten 4-year-olds are enrolled in a high-quality preschool program… So tonight, I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every single child in America. That’s something we should be able to do.”

He reemphasized his support in his 2014 State of the Union speech, saying, “Last year, I asked this Congress to help states make high-quality pre-K available to every 4-year-old. As a parent as well as a President, I repeat that request tonight.”

Summit Advocacy

Leading up to the summit, the nonprofit organization MomsRising is rallying around the summit by asking adults to have their children or grandchildren “color a paper doll that we will personally deliver to the White House!”

MomsRising adds, “we have a national emergency to address together: Childcare now costs more than college — and parents need safe, enriching places for their kids to be so they can work; and kids need high quality care so they can thrive into the future.”

Sign up for information on its website, and Mom’s Rising will email you the resources you need to participate.

At the summit, after Obama’s announcement, join the National Women’s Law Center, Zero to Three, and MomsRising for a #InvestInUs Twitter storm to highlight the importance of investing in high-quality early learning opportunities for young children.

What: #InvestInUs Twitter storm

When: Wednesday, December 10, 2014, 4:00-5:00 p.m. Eastern

Who: @nwlc, @zerotothree, @MomsRising, @MamásconPoder and YOU

Where: On twitter using the hashtag #InvestInUs

An Earlier White House Summit Provides a Preview

In June, the White House hosted a summit on working families that touched on the importance of high-quality early education.

At that event, Ariel Kalil, the director of the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy at the University of Chicago, focused on “the importance of high-quality childcare that promotes children’s development at the same time as it supports parents’ work efforts.” She also discussed “the costs to children and families and the overall economy when parents have a lack of affordable, stable care,” according to a University of Chicago news release.

And showing that all kinds of people need high-quality early education and care, Michelle Obama “spoke about the time years ago (before entering the White House) when her carefully constructed balance between work and family fell apart when her trusted child care provider left to find a better-paying job,” according to a blog entry posted by the National Women’s Law Center.

The blog adds: “Nancy Pelosi reminisced about her experiences raising five young children born six years apart. The speakers went on to emphasize the need to help other parents—especially those dealing with much more challenging circumstances than their own—find and afford high-quality child care.”

We look forward to seeing this energy and commitment continue next week at the White House’s early education summit.