BUILD STATES Illinois Minnesota New Jersey Ohio Pennsylvania LEARNING COMMUNITIES Hawaii Michigan Oklahoma Washington Build Home Sparking Connections Home Families and Work Institute Home

Build's Learning Community and WASHINGTON The Build Initiative is a multi-state partnership that helps states construct a coordinated early care and learning system that responds to the needs of young children from birth to five and their families, so that children are safe, healthy, eager to learn and ready to succeed in school. Build serves as a catalyst for change and a national resource on early learning. As a participant in Build's Learning Community, Washington joins the Build states, national experts and others, to exchange information and share ideas and best practices. Background Participation in Build's Learning Community has energized efforts to integrate Washington's many early learning activities and initiatives. The missions of numerous early care and education groups are being examined and aligned with unified priorities, including work related to the state's federal Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems grant. Early care and education in Washington has benefited from the support of Governor Gary Locke. In 1998 Governor Locke appointed a Governor's Commission on Early Learning, which was co-chaired by the First Lady and Melinda Gates, of the Gates Foundation. The Commission spurred the creation of the Foundation for Early Learning, which is focused on the development of an early learning system. The new foundation began with a gift from the Gates Foundation. The Foundation for Early Learning and the Washington Head Start State Collaboration Office are co-leaders of the Build Initiative in Washington. Early Learning Partnerships The Foundation for Early Learning, the Early Care and Education Coalition and the Children's Alliance (one of the most active children's advocacy organizations in the state) have joined to create a Washington Children's Web Communications Hub. The Hub will provide electronic messaging, online donation, advocacy campaigns and sophisticated reporting to support a range of early learning efforts in Washington. Services will be provided to other partner organizations that want to collaborate on policy change. Important collaborative activities are taking place at the local level as well. Work in Seattle/King County and Spokane has resulted in the creation of the Northwest Finance Circle to reform the financing of early learning and out-of-school-time programs. The SOAR Opportunity Fund in King County is one of eight sites across the nation participating in the Sparking Connections initiative, which focuses on family, friend and neighbor care. System-Building Planning and Progress The Leadership Council, a state-level advisory group to the child care program, has recently developed a broadened focus that encompasses early learning. The Committee is designing a state-level coordinating structure that connects to the local level. Private sector support is increasing. A group of early learning grant makers recently came together to establish the Early Care and Education Coalition , a coalition to promote policy change for improving child care quality and making preschool available to all interested families. The Coalition has worked with the League of Education Voters to advocate for best practices and resources in education. Both groups have worked with community stakeholders to develop the Great Beginnings Preschool model. Great Beginnings would first serve low-income families and then expand to serve all children, on a sliding scale fee basis. Funding and enabling policies have been included as part of an education ballot initiative for the November 2004 election. This type of collaboration is a result of the partnerships formed around Build Initiative activities. More information is available at www.edtrustfund.org. Challenges for the Future Governor Gary Locke, who has been supportive of early learning in Washington, is not running for re-election. His office and the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction have been working to develop school readiness benchmarks. Given the uncertainty of the effects of upcoming elections, it will be important to build strong support for the benchmarks before the current governor's term ends in late 2004. Washington is moving forward with a preschool agenda and, at the same time, seeking to balance those priorities with birth-to-three work. Early learning leaders in the state are committed to developing a more cohesive and comprehensive early care and education system and are looking to Build for assistance in meeting the challenges of a shifting fiscal and policy environment. To learn more about early care and learning in Washington, please visit www.earlylearning.org, or contact: Garrison Kurtz 206-525-4801, Ext. 28 garrison@earlylearning.org To learn more about the Build Initiative, please visit www.buildinitiative.org, or contact: Barbara Gebhard, Project Director 304-776-2940 bgebhard@buildinitiative.org